Prank Wars
by Kitty Kat K.O
Summary: When a storm leads the Mew Mews to be stranded in the cafe with Ryou, Keiichiro and the three aliens and boredom sets in, the only thing to do is pull pranks on each other.
1. What Comes with The Storm

Hi everyone!

Kitty Kat K.O. reporting for duty with her first fanfiction, so please be nice!!

I've been reading fanfictions for a year now but couldn't join : ( but now I can (obviously)!!

This fanfic will have about 5 hinted pairings but will mainly focus on Ryou x Ichigo as they are my favourite couple. Now it's time to do the disclaimer so without further ado, I shall introduce my good friend Ruby who will do it for me.

KKKO: Ruby will you do the disclaimer for me?

Ruby: Depends….will the story have Claudia and Stephanie doing stupid things in it?

KKKO: Ruby, this is a fan fiction, of course it won't.

Ruby: Then no.

KKKO: Why?

Ruby: It would have been funny.

KKKO: I know, it's always funny when our sisters do something stupid. Tell you what, I'll ask them and maybe they can be in another fan fiction.

Ruby: Fine by me!! Ok, so Kitty here doesn't own TMM (no matter how much she wants to).

KKKO: I heard that Ruby!!

Ruby: Gotta go!! Bye!

KKKO: Onto the story!!

Prologue

What Comes with the Storm

The sky lit up as a lightning bolt flashed. It gave the city a millisecond break from the thick black clouds that blocked out the Sun's light, leaving Tokyo in utter darkness. Rain lashed down all around, stinging the skin of whoever dared venture out into the seemingly endless storm.

In a city of thousands, only one girl had set foot outside since the bad weather began. This was only because she was too miserable to care. Well, what would you do if your boyfriend whom you thought had loved you had gone away for a month, then sent you a simple text message saying it was over, he had found another girl.

The wind whipped at her bare arms and the girl cursed herself for not bringing a coat. Looking up though, she breathed a sigh of relief noticing her destination was not much farther ahead. Her strawberry coloured hair was matted to her face and her clothes clung to her body. She was glad that she would soon be able to get out of the storm though she was also sure that by now the rain and wind would have succeeded in giving her a cold.

The lights of Café Mew Mew shone out and into the darkness of the surrounding area. The large pink café was virtually a second home for her and her friends and she knew going there would cheer her up. That is of course, if that certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed boss of hers didn't get at her for arriving late.

The red-head had just been about to leave for work - late as per usual - when she got a phonecall from the café's manager, Keiichiro Akasaka, telling her it was best if she stayed at home instead of braving the storm. He had also told her that everyone else had arrived but they were now stranded until the weather died down. Ichigo had agreed with him and it hadn't even been a minute when she received the text. She was so upset she had actually decided to brace the howling wind and the piercing rain.

Now she regretted her choice. Even more so when a loud clap of thunder rumbled overhead, startling her which caused her ears and tail to spring out.

A bolt of lightning flashed not too far from where the now petrified girl stood. Letting out a whimper she made a dash for the building.

Finally reaching it she pushed on the door, only to find it locked. More thunder roared and she jumped. Turning to face the direction of the noise she just managed to catch sight of the speeding lightning as it soared swiftly down to the ground. She shook as whimpers escaped from her mouth. A tap sounded from behind her. Jumping once again, but this time with a half turn she came face-to-face with a questioning Zakuro.

The older girl took the key she held and fit it into the keyhole. Twisting it, the door gave a click and she pulled it open, allowing the drenched Ichigo entry into the warm, dry café.

"Arigato," Ichigo whispered. Zakuro just nodded her head in return. Water streamed down her face and dropped to the floor, creating a puddle around her feet. She sneezed suddenly, then sniffed. She had been correct when she thought she had received a cold. Zakuro looked at her, concern showing on her face. Since Deep Blue had been defeated and the Mew Project had ended Zakuro had opened up a little and become more emotional.

Zakuro looked at her again. There was something missing. However she couldn't put her finger on it. She shook the feeling away quickly before she spaced out. Silently she began to walk in the direction of the changing rooms. Ichigo followed, rubbing her arms to try and warm herself. When they reached the room, Zakuro handed the shivering red-head a towel and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Stopping Zakuro twisted to face her. She raised an eye-brow, signaling for the younger girl to continue.

"Where are you going?" Ichigo asked.

"To find you some clothes," the super-model answered simply.

"What about my uniform?" questioned Ichigo.

"Well the rest of us aren't wearing them," Zakuro replied.

It was only then that Ichigo realized that fact. The girl before her wore a lilic blouse with the top button left undone and black denim jeans.

After a quick nod from Ichigo, Zakuro turned and left.

The purple-haired girl hurried upstairs to the living room where the other girls sat. Ryou and Keiichiro had work to do down in the lab and had left the four girls to their own devices. As Zakuro entered all attention came to rest on her.

"Where have you been, Zakuro-san?" Retasu asked.

"Letting in a stray. Ichigo's just arrived," she replied.

"In this weather? Doesn't she know it's dangerous?" Minto snorted.

"From her attitude I don't think she really cared," Zakuro said.

"How is she?" asked a concerned Retasu worriedly.

"Drenched and a little bit out of it. She's got a cold because she didn't wear a coat."

Minto rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I've got some spare she can lend.'

Picking up a bag that lay on the floor beside her feet, Minto followed Zakuro back to where Ichigo was.

Ichigo sat shaking violently, only a towel wrapped round her icy-cold body. Leaning over to where her clothes had been dumped on the floor, she reached into her bag and pulled out her mobile.

_Just like me,_ she thought, comparing herself to her clothes. _Dumped._

Switching her phone on she opened up the text message.

_**Sorry Ichigo-san. Found sum1 better than u. We r over.**_

_**Masaya**_

Seeing it again brought tears to Ichigo's eyes. There was a knock on the door. Not waiting for a reply, the knocker forced the door open and came in. Ichigo abruptly started rubbing her hands over her eyes, trying her hardest to stop her quiet crying.

Looking up, she found Zakuro and Minto standing over her. Worry was evident on their faces.

Ichigo tried to smile but only caused more beads of salty water to fall from her eyes.

"What's wrong?" the two girls asked in union.

"Nothing," lied Ichigo.

Minto raised her eye-brow. Noticing the mobile on the bench beside her friend she quickly snatched it up before the crying girl could stop her. Ichigo was alarmed when Minto grabbed her phone, but she dreaded the fact she hadn't deleted the message. She watched, her breath held, as her best friend read it. Minto's expression was one of complete bewilderment. It soon changed to one of understanding, then of angry hatred.

Zakuro also saw this and took the mobile from Minto, also reading the text.

Her expression remained neutral apart from her mouth which curved into a frown.

"So this is why…….?" Zakuro suddenly realized what she thought had been missing. Ichigo's bell - she hadn't been wearing it.

"Yes."

"That little…." Minto began, but trailed off. She handed Ichigo the fresh clothes she had brought and silently walked out of the room. From where they sat, a couple seconds later they heard Minto yelling numerous insults and various other things, though there was no swearing.

Zakuro nodded to the clothes that Ichigo now held and gestured for her to go put them on. She went into one of the cubicles and started doing so. Minto wandered back into the room just as Ichigo came out. She was now dressed in a light blue tank top, a pleated denim royal blue skirt that had several stars printed in the bottom left corner, just above the hem and white knee-high socks adorned her feet. It was a change from her signature colour she was always clothed in.

Minto smiled sympathetically at her and picked up a spare brush that sat on a ledge on one of the walls. She walked over to Ichigo and began brushing her friend's hair. Ichigo was confused, but allowed the girl to continue. Once all of the tats were out and Ichigo's hair was neat again, Minto put the brush down. She grabbed Ichigo's hand loosely and began pulling her out of the room. Zakuro silently followed them.

They ran up the stairs and into the living room where Retasu sat, bored stiff and Purin lay asleep on the sofa.

The three entered and sat down. They began to chat mindlessly, relieving Retasu of her boredom but were careful not to wake Purin.

Half an hour passed and the five of them were beginning to get bored. After Purin had woken up fifteen minutes ago there had been a little more they could do as they were not having to be conscious of her stirring or quiet so she wasn't woken.

But they were back to having nothing to do. Ichigo had livened up a little but still wasn't her usual self.

They were getting desperate. After a mini debate Purin got up and switched the T.V. on. A programme came on straight away. It was about cooking so she flipped the channel. This time a cricket match taking place in Australia came on. For the second time, Purin changed the channel. After channel hopping for five minutes or so (and the Mews thinking: _God, Ryou has a lot of channels on this thing)_ they came across a programme which seemed interesting. It was about people playing practical jokes on one another.

"Wouldn't it be fun if we could do that……….?" Ichigo wondered aloud.

A grin etched its way onto Purin's face. She turned to face Ichigo and said, "Then why don't we?"

"ARE YOU TWO CRAZY?! Shirogane-san will kill us if we mess up the café pranking each other," Minto exclaimed.

"It will relieve us of our boredom I suppose," sighed Zakuro.

"Zakuro?"

Ichigo smiled. "Anyway, who said we were going to be pranking each other?"

"What do you…..wait…NO!! You can't prank Shirogane-san and Akasaka-san!" Minto cried.

"Why not?" asked the red-head.

"We'll be in so much trouble," Retasu reasoned.

Ichigo shrugged. "And?"

Minto and Retasu turned to Zakuro and Purin. The younger girl was clapping her hands enthusiastically and Zakuro just shrugged. "In trouble with our boss beats boredom, at least," she admitted.

The two girls against the plan looked at one another before sighing and reluctantly agreeing. Perking up, a devious smile crept onto Ichigo's face and they began plotting……..

**A/N: **Ok, how was that? I've had this storyline for a while now and keep experimenting with different characters in it. It never seemed to work though. I just didn't have enough pranks.

**If anyone knows some pranks I could use, put them in your reviews please. I'll try and use them, no matter how crazy - in fact, the crazier the better!! It would be really helpful. Thankx.**

So until next time - BYE!!

Kitty Kat K.O. xoxo


	2. How To Prank Ryou Shirogane

I'M BACK!! Which means that you all have to endure another chapter of _Prank Wars_!!

First thing's first - arigato to all of my reviewers! They really motivated me to update so quickly. Special thankx to **Tomoyo Kinomoto **who gave me the idea for the 1st prank.

KKKO: Now, it's disclaimer time!! Who shall I ask? Oh, I know - my sister Stephanie. STEPHANIE!!

Stephanie: What? Do you want me to go on an undercover mission to the Farthest-Place-Away-From-Here-Possible again?

KKKO: Er…..no. That was just to get rid of you cos you were being to annoying.

Stephanie: Oh……I'm telling Cleo!!

KKKO: (Grabs Stephanie and puts a hand over her mouth) Now we're not going to do that, we're going to do the disclaimer then you can go and do….whatever insanity you have planned for today.

Stephanie: Dye my hair orange and sing The Wizard of Oz.

KKKO: Ok, Cleo influenced? (Nod from Stephanie) Whatever floats your boat. Disclaimer?

Stephanie: OK!!!!!! My big sis doesn't own TMM, nor do I or CLEO or -

KKKO: That's enough for now, go do your Cleo worshipping like a good little girl. (Stephanie runs off) Well, onto the story!!

Chapter 1

How to Prank Ryou Shirogane

The storm had continued on for the short time they had been devilishly scheming. It showed no signs in letting up anytime soon meaning Ryou and Keiichiro would be kept inside the café. Perfect.

It was almost ready. All that was needed was to set everything up - after gathering the required items first. But they had to avoid being spotted at all costs, or else Ryou would be onto them. He was a genius after all.

"Ok," Ichigo began. "All we need is for someone or two to fetch the objects to pull this off. Any volunteers?"

She clasped her hands over her chest and glanced eagerly amongst her four friends. They all stared back at her, not one of them daring to raise their hand. Ichigo frowned, if they weren't going to be cooperative then she would just have to do this the hard way.

"Well Purin and I have thought up the basic plan and Zakuro helped make it fit together so that just leaves Minto and Retasu…." she explained facing the two girls leftover as she did so. She had a glint in her eye which gave Retasu the uneasy knotted-gut feeling. She bit down on her lip, chewing it nervously as she considered the idea thoroughly. She could either opt out and get very bored indeed or she could go along with it, get into loads of trouble with Shirogane but end up having equally as much fun.

Deciding that the idea of fun was more tempting she gingerly raised her hand. The beam on Ichigo's face was enough to show Retasu that she had made the right choice.

Minto rolled her eyes and sighed. "Why are you volunteering, Retasu?"

The green-haired girl blushed as she answered, "It would be boring not to….I, er, mean that it would be fun, and it is only gathering the things."

Minto sighed again. "I guess you're right. I'll go with you. No-one could possibly carry all of that stuff on their own anyway."

Ichigo punched her fist in the air enthusiastically. "Let's get started!!"

"Why did we volunteer for this again?" Minto groaned as she carried the bucket and giant can of syrup.

"It's not that bad, at least we're halfway done already," Retasu reasoned as she held the kingsize bag of M&M's.

"Yeah, well you're not the one lifting the heavy stuff," Minto complained.

They trooped through the hallways and had almost reached the staircase when they heard footsteps coming up from the basement. Retasu's eyes widened as she realized that they were going to be caught while Minto just froze on the spot.

The footsteps got louder as the person got to the top of the stairs. The door that lead down to the lab clicked open and someone came through the door….

"What's taking them so long?" Ichigo asked as she paced the floor of the living room.

Zakuro just watched her, beginning to feel as if she was watching a tennis match.

Purin jumped up and down anxiously. Ichigo was right, all Minto and Retasu had to do was pick up a couple of things, come back and go out again to fetch the rest. And they had already been fifteen minutes…….

Ryou stepped out from behind the door, closing it behind him. At first he didn't see the two girls in front of him, staring fearfully, and started to walk towards them. Looking up though, he finally noticed them. He stopped and raised an eye-brow questioningly. Then his expression turned to one of surprise when he saw what they held.

Shaking her head, Minto stuttered, "Th-this isn't what it looks like!"

"Oh, and what exactly are you intending it looks like?" he asked, placing his hands on his hips.

The girls paled slightly, though it was not noticeable. They were sure to have been caught now. Retasu clutched the bag of M&M's closer to her body and Minto's grip on the bucket tightened.

"And what exactly are you doing with a giant packet of M&M's and one of the buckets used for washing the car?" he pressed on.

Confusion took over Minto. Why hadn't he mentioned the can of syrup? Hadn't he seen it? Studying his face carefully, Minto came to the conclusion that he hadn't. Relief spread over her and quickly she began to thing of an excuse.

"We were hungry so we found the M&M's," she lied.

"And the bucket?" Ryou asked, gesturing to the bright orange object that the small girl grasped.

"Er…we needed something to put the sweets in," she carried on.

He scrunched his face up questioningly but before he could say anymore, Minto quickly added, "The girls will be getting very hungry so we had best go." And with that, the two of them scurried off and up the stairs, Minto making sure that he didn't set eyes on the syrup as she passed him.

Shaking his head, Ryou thought, _They're up to something. Probably a dare because I don't think I've ever seen Minto eat M&M's out of choice._

Poor Ryou, he had no idea how wrong he was.

Bursting through the room, Retasu let out the breath she had been holding. _That was a close call,_ she thought, plonking herself onto the floor.

No sooner had she sat down then Ichigo was yelling, "Where were you?!"

"Almost caught by Shirogane-san," Minto replied coolly.

"WHAT?" the cat-girl screeched.

"Ichigo-onee-chan, Shirogane-san will hear you if you're that loud," Purin warned.

"It's ok," Retasu assured her calmly. "Minto made up a story to put him off our trail. He still has no clue."

Ichigo nodded. She turned to the elder girl who sat silently in the corner.

"Zakuro-chan, you wouldn't mind fetching the floor wax would you?"

Muttering an almost inaudible no she stood and left the room.

This time, the red-head faced the youngest Mew, asking her to get the balloons.

As Purin left she turned back around to the other Mews and started to set up the basics of the prank.

It was finally ready. All that was requied was the bait.

After talking for only a couple minutes, the five of them decided it would be less suspicios if Purin set the prank into motion. Why would Shirogane suspect Purin of setting a trap? The answer was he wouldn't.

Everything had been set into place and the young girl waited excitedly for the signal.

Zakuro coughed from the older girls' hiding place. That was it.

Grinning, Purin set off to fetch the victim. Jumping the stairs two at a time down to the basement she happily called out, "Shirogane-san!"

The boy appeared at the bottom of the stairs before she could.

"Yes, Purin?"

"I need your help in the kitchen."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"I can't reach the higher cupboards," she explained.

"Ok, I'm coming," he said and started to follow her up the stairs.

When they reached the door, Purin was careful to allow Ryou to go first through the door. And as soon as he did….

The door opened wide enough, causing the bucket filled to the top with syrup to fall, covering him in the sugary stuff. Not being able to open his eyes for the fear of getting the golden goo in them he took a step forward. That proved to be his big mistake. The girls had made sure the floor was waxed so it was ultra-slippy, and as Ryou put his foot down he was off, skidding across the floor. Struggling to regain his balance he wiped his eyes free from the syrup and forced them open - just in time to see the balloon covered wall he was about to collide with. And sure enough, seconds later there was a deafening BANG as his body smacked into it. The balloons burst and he was covered in millions of tiny spherical objects. He fell to the floor, landing hard on his rear-end.

He was in a daze. He finally snapped out of it when there was a bright flash in front of eyes. Ryou looked up to see a triumphant Ichigo standing above him, grinning, a camera in hand. Not too far behind her stood the rest of the Mew Mews, laughing uncontrollably. Even Zakuro was having trouble stopping her giggles.

Realization hit Ryou. Hard. Narrowing his azure orbs, he asked angrily, "Find that funny did you?"

He brought himself to his feet as Ichigo closed the gap between him. Picking an M&M off of his face she retorted, "But of course." and then put the M&M into her mouth.

"You'll pay for this, you realize?" he muttered darkly.

"Hmmm, will I?" she answered back looking smug.

"But of course," he replied, using the phrase she had just before. He smirked slyly, leaving the room to go shower.

"He tries anything," Ichigo said to her friends after she was sure he was long gone, "we have the blackmail to get him back." Waving the camera about, she strutted out of the room. A couple of moments later, three of the girls followed.

Zakuro held back for a couple of seconds to utter under her breath, "Shirogane-san is a genius and he wants revenge. This is bound to turn into some kind of war…"

"ZAKURO-CHAN!"

Hearing the yell the grey wolf left in tow of her friends.

_They're going to get it, _Ryou thought to himself as he switched the water on and clambered into the shower cubicle. _And maybe I'll call in some back-up, just to make things a bit more interesting…_

**A/N: **OOOH, now what help should he get?

Next chapter will have Kish, Pai and Tart in and also a bit of revenge. I'll update as soon as I can - though that may not be for a week or so as our living room is being decorated and the computer will be unplugged, but oh well.


	3. Ryou's Revenge

Oh so many reviews!! Thankx to everyone who has sent me one and to all that are reading this story. It normally takes me days to write a chapter of my novels - although they are _quite _long and like this story I write them off the top of my head, ya know, make it up as I go along. I am so proud of myself cos I have thought of a few pranks ALL BY MYSELF!! (Pats self on head) And they may actually turn out to be funny. The thing is with me that whatever I make up seems to have no logic to it whatsoever, but for once I DID IT!! It all makes perfect sense……to me, at least…..LOL.

Anyway I'll stop babbling and let Claudia do the disclaimer for me. She's already up and waiting because I asked her beforehand, after the trouble I got with her sister and mine.

KKKO: Oh, Claudia!!

Claudia: I'm here. And here's the disclaimer - No, Jessi --

KKKO: Claudia! No using my real name!

Claudia: Sorry! Ok, Kit Kat doesn't own TMM, though if she did Ryou would have probably ended up with _her_ at the end of the series --

KKKO: CLAUDIA!!!!!! Way too much info!!

Claudia: (Grinning) Sorry!

KKKO: ……..YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE, DIDN'T YOU?

Claudia: Maybe.

KKKO: Right, we're going to skip to the story while I teach Claudia, Stephanie and Ruby how to behave - and search for someone obedient to do the disclaimers from now on. ONTO THE STORY!! Oh, and this time there are 2 pranks in the same chapter. Enjoy!!

Chapter 2

Ryou's Revenge

"So you'll do it?"

"Yes. I can't wait to see my Koneko-chan - and the look on her face when the plan is set into motion."

"Good, well I'll need you to fetch the items. The weather's still lethal and I can't teleport."

"Ok. Which colours?"

"Black, orange and blonde-coloured."

"Got it! I'll be right back!" There was a flash as the alien left the room.

"You know, you really shouldn't have let him go on his own like that. He won't just get what you've asked him to. When it involves Ichigo, Kish will stop at nothing to mess around with her."

Turning towards the speaker, Ryou smirked. "I'm well aware of that Pai. Which is _why_ I sent _him._"

Pai just raised his eye-brows. He had never thought that Ryou Shirogane of all people would have sunk so low just to get revenge on five girls - mainly a ditsy, cat-like red-head.

The blonde boy sat at his computer in the lab, away from the sharp ears of the Mew Mews, going over the scheme to make sure it was foolproof.

The sound of heavy, galloping footsteps sounded as someone raced down the basement stairs. Finally emerging, Tart grinned and stuck his thumb up. "All set up and ready for loading," he reported.

"Perfect," was Ryou's reply.

Another flash appeared as Kish re-entered the lab. Standing, Ryou made his way over to the alien. Kish held out one of his hands which he grasped a carrier bag in. Taking it, Ryou noted the second bag in Kish's other hand. Nodding in acknowledgement towards it after taking the first bag from him, Kish smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head with his now free hand nervously.

"I….er, had some other things I wanted to pick up," he explained.

Ryou smirked again and walked over to Pai, asking, "Coming?"

Pai kicked his foot against the wall he was leaning on to push him up. Without a word he followed the Earth boy out of the room and to their first destination.

Two sets of footsteps made their way into the kitchen. Walking over to the cupboard, the Lorikeet selected two mugs and lifted them down, placing them carefully on the bench beside her. Putting a teabag each into the mugs, she turned to the Wolf behind her and enquired, "Do you take sugar?"

There was a brief shake of her head as the older girl declined the offer. Turning back to the items in front of her Minto reached over to flick the switch on the kettle that would start the water boiling. Just after she did so, Zakuro noticed the colour of the water.

Puzzled, she asked aloud, "Isn't water meant to be clear?"

Confused, Minto twisted to face her friend, saying, "Yes."

"Then why is it a pea-green shade?" Zakuro questioned, pointing at the liquid inside the kettle. The two girls stared at it for several seconds. This was weird. Just as the kettle clicked to note that the water it held in it was hot enough, it exploded. Water covered the girls as they screamed. But it wasn't the temperature that was the problem. No, the liquid was unexpectedly cold. It was all down to the sudden shock of the kettle reacting the way it did.

When all the water had been emptied from the kitchen utensil, the girls made a dash for the door. Deciding on their way out that it was best not to tell Shirogane that they had somehow caused his kettle to combust, they headed straight for the upstairs living room.

Meanwhile, Retasu and Purin had chosen to clean the mess they had made after the prank. They strolled along the corridor to the bathroom to wash their hands and faces. Finally arriving they stepped into the rather large room laughing and smiling.

Retasu went to turn the tap on, and as she did, funny coloured water spurted everywhere, soaking them from head to toe. To avoid getting her face wet, Purin put her head down, letting her hair take the splatters. Retasu, however, edged her way forward slowly, taking hold of the tap and twisting it to switch off.

The water flow stopped almost instantly, but that did not change the fact the girls were drenched. They were stunned for a couple of moments, then when they regained their senses, they bolted out of the bathroom.

Recalling to herself what Minto and Zakuro said, Ichigo laughed. _The kettle exploded, oh well. Shirogane'll just have to buy a new one……but will probably use the money for my raise (that I__** will**__ persuade him to give me, eventually) to buy it! _

Shaking her head as the anger bubbled inside of her, Ichigo let out a rather cat-like sound - a cross between a hissing and a growl. However, her thoughts took a different path as she heard her phone bleep, informing her that she had received a new text. Sighing, images of her former boyfriend filled her mind. _Why did he have to break up with me? _She thought desperately, pulling her mobile from her pocket.

Deciding not to check the message she slipped it back and carried on wandering aimlessly down the corridor, thinking of something else to do. Now that they had pranked Ryou, and he would be too suspecting to fall for any other traps, Ichigo was bored again. Minto and Zakuro had left to make some tea for themselves and had returned shortly after shouting that the kettle had went BOOM! Retasu and Purin had gone to tidy up the mess that was made due to the prank and hadn't comme back as of yet. So while the two shocked girls had sat in the corner muttering that 'kettles didn't blow up for no reason' and 'water didn't change colour by itself' , Ichigo had went for a stroll around the café.

By now she was nearing the changing rooms. That is until she saw a water sprinkler sitting in the middle of her path. Curiousity got the better of her as she went over to it and crouched down. Raising a finger, she stretched her hand to touch it when suddenly it turned on and water flew everywhere. Bolting back upright, she began squealing and dancing around on the spot, hoping that somehow her foolish antics would put a cease to the unnaturally coloured liquid. About a minute or so later she got her wish. Shocked to silence Ichigo just stood there, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. Backing away slowly at first, she soon found herself fleeing the scene.

Five drenched girls sat shivering in the middle of the room, towels cloaking their huddling forms. Towels were also wrapped round their heads to dry their hair.

They had sat like this for half an hour. Ichigo rose and walked out of the room in the direction of the bathroom. Arriving at her destination she went inside and faced the mirror.

Unwrapping the towel and taking it off she studied her reflection. Paled. And screamed.

As the girls left the living room to find their friend, Kish snuck into it, carrier bag in hand and closely followed by Tart and Ryou…..

They stared at their frantic friend, absolutely speechless. Ichigo's once strawberry hair was now a brilliant shade of blonde.

Zakuro wandered into view of the mirror. Immediately she removed the towel that sat atop her head. Bright, orange locks replaced the purple ones she had woken with that morning.

Minto moved forward next. She unwrapped her towel to find her hair was the same colour as Zakuro's. Bright orange was not a good look for her.

Purin bounced in front of the reflective object. She was anxious to find out whether or not her hair had changed. Taking her towel off, she revealed that it had indeed and was a sleek ebony black.

Fearing the worst, her suspicions were confirmed as Retasu pulled her towel from her head, showing the locks that were coloured like Purin's.

They stared at their reflection for a second before all bursting out into a frenzy.

Once they had calmed down several minutes later, they began to make their way back to the living room. It was surely Ryou's revenge prank, they had agreed on that.

Entering the place they sat back down, too angry to notice the obvious signs that there had been others in the room after them.

The lights went off. As the girls looked around worriedly, tarantulas hovered down from the ceiling. Minto reached up and pulled on the light switch, turning the light on but releasing a load of rubber snakes onto her. The other girls squealed as they saw the tarantulas. Retasu backed away slowly. However, Zakuro and Purin jumped, landing in a tray of baked beans each. Ichigo jumped back to the wall hitting something which then released three litres of chocolate sauce onto her.

As they stood amongst the aftermath, the three boys appeared in the doorway laughing their heads off.

After Kish had told Ryou his plan, the older boy couldn't resist having a hand in it. And now he was more certain than ever that he had made the right choice.

Smirking, he strutted over to the furious Ichigo.

"How'd you like mine and Kish's pranks?" he asked arrogantly.

"I'll get you for this Shirogane," Ichigo hissed.

His smirk never faltered. Wiping a finger down her chocolate covered face he said, "Uh uh, we're even now. Baka Strawberry." And popped his finger into his mouth, licking it clean.

_Even, are we. I guess I'll have to something to mess up the score then, because __**I'm **__going to be the one who has the last laugh. Ryou Shirogane, I hope you know that this means war…._

**A/N: **Finally finished! This chappie took me hours!! Hope it wasn't too long LOL.

Next chapter will have more fluff and more of the guys as I realize this chapter didn't have that much of them in. Next time it'll be the girls turn - and maybe Keiichiro will get involved? Hmmmm, I'll have to think about that. Oh, and this will be a guys v. girls war, just so you know. It was a special request from **tigergurl4kish78**. Ok, until next time, SEE YA!!


	4. Let the War Begin

Hi everybody!! Yet another chapter you have to endure. I vaguely have an idea for most of the story, but some of the pranks aren't that funny : ( Some however are hilarious - but at the minute, only to me. Thankx to everyone who has reviewed, you're all so nice!! Special thankx to **Belle of Da Ball **for improving the idea for the prank in this chapter. I had part of the prank but her idea made it even funnier.

I don't own TMM. I know there used to be one of my friends doing the disclaimer - but I thought maybe it was a bit insulting and she isn't actually that crazy so I've changed it. Anyway - everything else in the story is the same.

Chapter 3 

Let the War Begin

Ichigo sighed as the warm water hit her skin. After much arguing, Ryou had agreed to let the girls use his shower to clean the beans and chocolate off. It had came with a price though - they all had to pose for photos which would most likely be used for blackmail later. Minto was furious about this. She didn't want anyone seeing her with orange hair.

The previously redhead rolled her eyes. Typical Shirogane. He just had to dye her hair _blonde. _Of all colours, why blonde? Why his hair colour? To irritate her? To freak her out? Why?

_Oh well,_ she thought to herself. _At least it doesn't look __**that**__ bad. In fact, I_ _look quite good as a blonde. _

Grinning, Ichigo began to sing quietly to herself as she washed.

**Well you're texting me on a Friday night**

**But I'm out with the girls, got my hair colour right**

Ichigo giggled slightly at the last line as she sung it.

**So I just hit erase on my hot pink phone**

**But you just keep on sending 'em cos you're all alone**

She began to get more into the song and started singing louder as she reached the chorus.

**Don't call me if you listen to country**

**Don't call me if you listen to modern soul**

**Don't call me if you listen to that hip hop no**

**But you can call me what you like if you like rock-n-roll**

Playing the tune in her head, she started again, this time as loud as she could.

**There's a hundred people trying to get in the club**

**But we walk right by them cos we push and we shove**

**The music's so bad we gotta slap the DJ**

**We take over the decks and every-**

She cut off abruptly as her cat senses alerted her someone was standing outside the door.

"You alright in there Ichigo-chan?" came the familiar voice of Minto.

"Of course I am," was her reply.

"Oh, you just stopped singing so suddenly…."

"You're very good onee-chan!" Purin yelled

The catgirl smiled, shouting arigato to the young girl as she finished cleaning herself and turned the shower off. Stepping out of the cubicle she searched for a towel. Finding one she wrapped it around her body. Only once the towel clung to her dripping wet form did she realize something. _OMG, Ryou would have had this towel wrapped round __**his **__naked body!! And now I'm wearing it!_

Ichigo's face turned scarlet. The thought kept spinning in her head again and again until suddenly there was a poof! She was smothered by her now large towel and after pondering why it had become so big all of a sudden, she groaned knowing that she had transformed into a cat. _Oh great!!_

What the koneko didn't get was that she was now in the worst possible situation. She was a cat because she had become embarrassed by her own thoughts, she needed someone to kiss her in order for her to change back to a human and she highly doubted any of her fellow Mews would assist her in that, meaning she would probably have to face the humiliation of asking one of the boys, but when she turned back she would be naked, losing every bit of dignity she ever had.

But as I said, she _didn't _realize this.

So she walked out of the bathroom and back to the living room. Once she arrived she found the door was closed, so she had to scratch on it several times.

However, whilst she was in this process she had no clue someone was creeping up behind her. Arms flew around her tiny feline body, grasping her tight. Struggling, but to no avail, she was locked in the grasp until her captor decided to put release her. But that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

What Ichigo did manage was to twist round to face whoever had caught her. She was now looking up at Tart. His mouth was curved into an evil smile. Without a word he took off in a run, the neko still clasped firmly to him.

Reaching a door he flung it open and galloped down the stairs. Ichigo filled with dread as she saw where they were headed. Even more so when she saw who was down there.

All the attention shifted to the youngest alien as he entered. "Brought a hostage," he announced, holding koneko Ichigo up high.

"Koneko-chan?" Kish called, smiling.

She looked at all of them. Pai didn't care, Tart beamed triumphantly, Kish smiled happily. Her gaze came to rest on her boss. He looked amused as he stared at her and when he noticed her glaring kitten face, he smirked.

"And what caused this?" he asked her, meaning the transformation. Her glare remained the only acknowledgement she showed him.

"Fine, don't answer. I guess you'll want changing back then. Of course you would be less hassle in this form," Ryou teased.

She hissed in response to his comment. He stood and strode over to her, taking her from Tart and holding her up to his face. _At least this way I won't lose my dignity by having to ask….wait, aren't I --_

That was when it clicked. She had no clothes on - she was naked. If he kissed her she'd turn back and would be left in front of them --

Hissing and spitting the koneko struggled to free herself. But his grip on her was far too strong. _He must have been working out, _she thought and then blushed, although it was invisible beneath her onyx fur.

She had made the mistake of pausing after the thought and he took the chance to tighten his hold. Her eyes opened wider as it hit her what would happen. Her life would be over…..

Minto threw her hands up into the air frustratedly. Where was Ichigo? They had heard the shower switch off ages ago, but hadn't heard her come out of the bathroom.

"Maybe she's in trouble," Retasu suggested.

"Maybe she's getting dressed in there," Zakuro offered.

"Or maybe she's just taking her time!" Minto yelled.

Everyone went silent as they continued to wait. Purin cocked her head to the side as an idea entered her mind. "Maybe she's left already and we didn't know and she hasn't returned because she's ended up in a desperate situation of embarrassment that'll cause her to be so humiliated she'll never leave her house again! Ever!"

The other Mew Mews stared at her in puzzlement all thinking the same thing, _Is she actually sane? _

But they had no idea how right she was…..

This was her last resort. She had to do this. It was her only chance to get free. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth around his arm. And bit down. Hard.

He flinched in pain but did not utter a cry - or any sound for that matter. Letting her down, she gave a small, sad meow of apology, turned and fled.

Ryou watched her leave. The aliens were left in shock at her actions. She really seemed to want to get away.

Sprinting up the stairs, through all the corridors and then up more stairs Ichigo tried to come up with the least embarrassing way of getting back to normal. Finally figuring one out she dashed into the bathroom to retrieve her towel. Picking it up in her teeth she dragged it back to the living room where all the girls sat waiting.

Bursting through the door, she panted before wrapping the cloth around herself securely, selected a Mew and ran up to her. Jumping on Zakuro's lap she leaned up and pecked her on the lips. Instantly there was a poof and Ichigo sat next to the bewildered girl, now her normal form and covered by the towel. Twisting to Zakuro smiled sheepishly, scratched the back of her head nervously and began to explain…..

"Well that certainly makes things clearer," Zakuro said.

"So you've kissed Shirogane-san before, na no da?" asked a curious Purin.

"Only when I absolutely had to!" Ichigo cried defensively.

The catgirl was now fully clothed in her own clothes, since they had been put in the drier after she had arrived that morning. Her hair was now back to normal aswell. The dye had been temporary one-wash stuff and so had come out whilst Ichigo had been in the shower.

"Now all we need is a good prank to pull on the boys," Minto announced. "After the rest of us wash."

"Yeah, cos no offense, but Zakuro, Purin, your feet are really starting to stink," Ichigo giggled.

"None taken. Anyway, I've already thought of a prank we can use," the wolfgirl admitted. Pulling out her mascara she smiled. "We'll have to do it later tonight when they're asleep, though." Then she stood and left the room in the direction of the shower.

Once she had gone, Ichigo walked over to the window. Peering out into the darkness. The storm still raged on, keeping everyone stuck inside. Ichigo grabbed the phone that was propped on a table beside the window and started punching in numbers.

"Onee-chan, what are you doing?" Purin asked.

"Calling my parents. The weather isn't going to let up and trust me, you don't want to go out in that. I'm sure Shirogane won't mind if we stay the night," she replied, not looking at them.

It was midnight. The four boys were fast asleep. Trying not to make a sound, the five girls snuck into the room and each beside a boy, though Retasu teamed up with Purin seeing as there was one less boy than there was girls.

Grinning mischievously they set to work, their weapons doing their worst. Mascara, blusher, eye-liner, foundation, lip-liner and of course lipgloss. Five to ten minutes later they were finished their 'masterpieces'. Whipping out a camera, Ichigo whispered as a smirk plastered itself to her face, "This is gold. Pure gold."

Once the pictures had been taken they set to work on their second task. Hopefully, when they woke up in the morning, everything went according to plan…..

**A/N: **Ooh ooh, cliffy!! You'll find out what happens next in the next chapter.

Ruby: Duh!

KKKO: What the heck are you doing back?!

Ruby: Got bored.

KKKO: That it?

Ruby: No, I wanted to bug you. Oh and Cleo did a very good job on the disclaimer, didn't she?

KKKO: No (goes in huff)

Ruby: Then re-hire me. I'll even say goodbye to your readers right now. (Turns to readers) Goodbye! Kitty will update ASAP because I will force her to.

KKKO: So the next chapter will probably be up in the next few days. After all we are on the Summer Holidays!! Meaning it can get very boring--

Ruby: When I'm not around.

KKKO: Ruby, what are you doing?

Ruby: Finishing your sentence for you.

KKKO: I wasn't going to say that!

Ruby: Yes you were. Anyway, we need to get going. It's getting pretty late.

KKKO: Yeah.

KKKO & Ruby: See ya soon!!!!!!!!!


	5. Humiliation Beyond Belief

Konnichiwa!! It's good to see that my story is a success!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone has reviewed, and especially to the following (mostly for the reviews of every chapter):

**Belle of Da Ball**

**Flower Fairy Princess **

**Tokyo Gal'**

**animegirl**

And especially to **tigergurl4kish78 **for coming up with the idea for the 2nd prank in this chapter.

KKKO: I have (very reluctantly) re-hired Ruby to do the disclaimer. Ruby, come here!!

Ruby: (from behind) Er, hello? I've been standing right behind you the whole time.

KKKO: Oh……

Ruby: So this thing here doesn't own TMM --

KKKO: RUBY!! Why'd you call me a thing?

Ruby: Cos if she did Ryou would be kept solely to herself --

KKKO: Are you even listening? Wait - WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT ME AND RYOU?!!

Ruby:…..which would mean that he wouldn't end up paired to Ichigo (not like he does anyway) --

KKKO: …….You're Ryou bashing aren't you? Quit it!!

Ruby:…….and he is a baka and I hate him. Now I'm finished. What exactly were you saying?

KKKO: HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?! Evil Ryou basher!! Deep down I know you like him really.

Ruby: Idiot! I hate him. Read my lips - I. HATE. HIM.

KKKO: Whatever. Alright, so onto the story!!!

Chapter 4

Humiliation Beyond Belief 

The morning was as bleak as ever. The storm had past during the night, but it had left a blanket of mist in it's place. The thick fog was opaque, no-one could see through it.

So it seemed as though everyone would be stuck in the café for another day, or until it was safe to leave. But it wasn't that bad, considering the occupants of the building were in the middle of a war. And Ichigo couldn't wait to see the results of their latest prank.

She awoke with a yawn. Checking the clock her eyes opened wide because it read 10:00am. Scrambling out of bed, she quickly threw her clothes on, thinking to herself that the prank would fail. In order to provide the girls with satisfaction, the boys had to be kept away from each other - for a while at least.

Running down the stairs without looking where she was going resulted in Ichigo bumping into someone and falling onto her rear. A hand came into view, offering her help up. She took it gratefully and glanced up to see who she had ran into. She had to bite her lip to stop her from laughing.

Ryou stood in front of her in a sleeveless black top, blue denim jeans, electric blue mascara, bright red blusher, pink lipgloss and dark green eye-shadow. Ichigo had put it all on him last night as he slept. Of course, she wouldn't normally cake make-up on or clash colours like she had, but hey - it was Ryou and her purpose had been to make it look as bad as possible.

She murmured a quick thank you and dashed off in the direction of the kitchen. Upon entering it she found Kish and Tart arguing with their backs turned, Zakuro watching the fight with surprising interest. She held a cup of steaming tea in her hands, had raised it to her mouth and was about to take a sip of the boiling liquid when she spotted the catgirl giggling to herself whilst she stared at the boys' faces. They too had make-up on. Kish's wasn't that bad. It was neat and subtle, seeing as Minto had done it. Tart however looked like a clown. His eye-shadow stopped at his eyebrows, the eye-liner reaching about a centimeter below his eye, the mascara had left his eye lashes in clumps, the lipgloss and blusher had been exchanged for lipstick and covered his cheeks in bright cherry red and had also outlined his lips. Even with Retasu meant to assist, Purin had insisted that she 'do her Tar-Tar all by herself'.

Zakuro had made-up Pai, but so far Ichigo hadn't seen the results. But the rest of the boys looked like idiots! How they hadn't woken up during it was a mystery.

After the girls had finished giving the boys their makeovers they had removed all the mirrors from the house. Just to avoid the boys seeing themselves before the girls had a chance to. And cleaning themselves in the shower? Purin had turned the water off and it was not set to turn on until 10:30am. They also had to keep them from seeing each other. But as Ichigo and Zakuro were about to find, that didn't neccissarily work.

As Tart yelled at Kish, he turned around. Making his comeback, so did Kish. They were now facing the other, in complete shock.

The two Mews stared on in anticipation to see how they would react. Mere seconds later came the blow.

"YOU'VE GOT MAKE-UP ON!!!!!"

Their cry brought Ryou and Pai sprinting into the room to see what was going on. When they noticed the boys faces they erupted into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

"You shouldn't laugh!" Tart shouted accusingly.

"Yeah, cos you are exactly the same!" Kish added.

The two chuckling boys stopped abruptly and turned to face one another. As they saw that what the younger aliens said was true their cheeks turned red.

Knowing that they were now in a danger zone, Ichigo and Zakuro attempted to sneak out of the room. Keyword being _attempted. _From the corner of his eye Pai caught them and said angrily, "Don't think you're getting out of here. We're going to get you back for this."

"After we wash our faces," Ryou added, his tone harsh as he glared angrily.

Kish walked to the tap and switched it on. But no water came out.

All four glared at the two helpless Mews. Ichigo giggled. "It won't come on until half ten," she said.

Zakuro, in the meantime was slowly backing up to the door. Twisting the knob, she slipped through quietly as Ichigo was forced to answer more questions.

"So this is why all the mirrors disappeared?"

"Yes, we removed them to make sure you didn't see your reflections."

"Who put make-up on who?"

"Minto did Kish, Retasu and Purin (but mostly Purin) did Tart, Zakuro did Pai and I did you."

"When?"

"Last night. You all look so cute when you're asleep."

A sudden sound filled the room. The sound of running water. And sure enough, when she glanced at the clock, it was 10:30.

"They couldn't get to the tap quick enough!!" Ichigo managed to splutter out between giggles.

"Oh, you don't have to rub it in. I know we missed it and I can't believe it! The only time I ever sleep in!!" Minto whined.

"Be careful Minto, you're beginning to sound like Strawberry. And we don't want another one of her, now do we?" came a voice from the door.

The girls twisted round to see none other than Ryou standing in the doorway, his face scrubbed clean and a smirk plastered on it instead.

"Especially since one is bad enough," he continued.

Ichigo seethed and bit back a retort. She just wanted him to leave so they could talk about their victory, not have a pointless argument with her jerky (although attractive) boss.

"What do you want, Shirogane-san?" Retasu asked sweetly.

"A truce," he replied, though his smirk did not falter.

"A what?" questioned Ichigo, the red-head clearly having a moment of stupidity.

"A truce, Strawberry, is an agreement to stop fighting," he replied, making it sound obvious.

"Awww, have you had enough already? Didn't last long, did you? We're just too good," Ichigo taunted.

Ryou looked away, pretending not to listen. Once she had finished, he put on an innocent voice and asked, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Ichigo glared at him.

However, when Ryou suggested they had a hot chocolate to seal to deal, the girls couldn't resist the offer.

They trooped downstairs, Ryou leading them to a table and heading off to the kitchen.

Five minutes later he came out again carrying two cups of hot chocolate. He was closely followed by Tart and Pai who also carried two cups of the drink each. Kish, however, was a balancing act, trying to carry three cups at the same time.

"We told you to only carry two and go back for the last!" Pai exclaimed.

"Yeah, well I'm managing aren't I?" he retorted. Until he almost tripped. But before he could fall, he caught himself.

Arriving at the table, Ryou handed Ichigo a mug and kept one for himself. The aliens dished out the other cups amongst themselves and the other girls. They all went to take a sip. A look of pure horror crossed each Mews face as they tasted the liquid. It was hot. Very hot. And a little spicy. The whipped cream was disgusting, and Purin thought it tasted similar to her father's shaving cream which she had consumed when she was small. The sprinkles tasted like raw onion.

Instantly, all five Mew Mews spat out the nasty stuff. When they opened their mouths, they found their tongues were black. Ichigo and Minto leapt up and ran in the direction of the nearest water. Grabbing several cups they filled them right to the top and gulped them down. Retasu and Purin copied their idea whilst Zakuro tried to keep her cool, but gave into temptation and followed her friends.

Once they were calm and cool, their mouths washed free of the blackness, they stomped angrily toward the boys. Or Ichigo did, anyway. The others hung back, fearing the worst from the furious Irimote.

"You tricked us!! What the heck was in that?!" she hissed.

"Hmm….hot sauce, shaving cream and those sprinkles were from the joke shop," Ryou answered casually. This only fired up the Wildcat more.

"How did you get them?!" she yelled.

"We have an advantage. Kish, Pai and Tart can teleport. And luckily, Kish is willing to," he stated calmly, though the smugness was evident in his voice.

Not being able to think of a good enough comeback, Ichigo settled on three little words instead. "I hate you."

"Of course you do, Strawberry," Ryou smirked, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back in his chair. The way he said it, although his tone had been sweet, was intending sarcasm and arrogance.

"We'll get you back for this," Ichigo snarled.

"Just try," Ryou taunted.

"I will," Ichigo said, trying to be intimidating as she lowered her face to his level. He sat up, almost completely closing the gap between them.

"Bring it on," he smirked.

"Same to you," she smiled deviously.

"Strawberry?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

That's when he closed the small gap there was keeping them separated. Ichigo found her knees going weak as he kissed her softly. He was surprisingly gentle but was going much further with her than her ex ever did. She felt his tongue at the entrance to her mouth and she allowed him to ease it open and his tongue enter. All thoughts disappeared from her mind as the feeling took over her. Her senses started to fade and only when her knees were about to completely give way did he break the kiss.

She was speechless. Her mind was blank. So she did the only thing she could thing of - she turned and walked briskly out of the room. With a stunned glance at their blonde boss, who merely shrugged in reply, they followed after Ichigo.

**A/N: **I did tweak the idea very slightly for the prank. It was supposed to be the other way round teamwise, with the girls pranking the boys, but I needed another prank desperately and this was funny so I used it.

Anyway, I had better go, so until next time, SAYONARA!!!!


	6. How to Get Them Back

Hey hey everyone!! I have returned!! Here's the latest chapter of _Prank Wars _for you. Unfortunately, Ruby has taken two weeks off to go to Switzerland so I had to find someone to fill in. Fortunately, my friend Hannah has offered to do just that!

KKKO: Now, where exactly is Hannah?

_Muffled screams from behind._

KKKO: Hi Hannah!! What did you say?

_More muffled sounds from Hannah._

KKKO: Wait, let me just take this off. (rips ducktape from Hannah's mouth)

Hannah: I said I didn't offer, you forced me.

KKKO: Oh yeah……Anyway, disclaimer, plz?

Hannah: Why?

KKKO: Cos.

Hannah: Why?

KKKO: Cos I asked you nicely.

Hannah: And if I do will you let me go?

KKKO: Yes.

Hannah: Fine, crazy-hyper-ditsy-girl here doesn't own TMM. Now can you let me go?

KKKO: Alright…..But first onto the story!

Hannah: HEY!!!!

Chapter 5

How to Get Them Back

She was annoyed. Annoyed and frustrated. At who? Both herself and Ryou. How she had allowed him to do that to her - it wasn't clear right now. Nor were the mixed feelings she was having. One thing she knew for sure though was that Ryou Shirogane would pay.

Pacing the room, back and forth, again and again, Ichigo tried to come up with something. But the only things she was succeeding in doing was making her friends dizzy and giving herself a headache.

"Ichigo-chan, would you please stop? It won't do you any good," Retasu said, concern breaking through in her voice.

"Onee-chan, listen to Retasu-onee-chan," Purin told her softly.

The Irimote paused for a second before shaking her head and continuing.

"He made a fool out of me, he's going to pay de --" Ichigo was cut off as Zakuro tried to reason with her.

"Are you sure he did that to humiliate you? What if he had his own reasons and right then and there, even in front of everyone, was the right time to do it?"

"What do you mean? What reasons could he have other than to get me back?" Ichigo questioned the older girl, puzzled.

"All I'm saying is Shirogane-san seems to have a soft spot for you. He may have hidden feelings," Zakuro shrugged. "But that's just my interpretation of it."

By the time her friend had finished speaking, Ichigo's face had turned crimson.

"RYOU!! HAVE FEELINGS FOR ME?!" she shrieked.

"Shh, or he'll hear you. And since when do you call him by his first name?" Minto asked suspiciously.

If it was possible, Ichigo's face reddened twice as much making her whole head seem like an actual strawberry.

"I-er-I….I don't! Never! Slip of the-the tongue! Th-that's….that's all!!" she stuttered.

All of the Mews raised their eye-brows.

"We need to think of another prank to get the boys back, na-no-da!" Purin suddenly cried, breaking the little awkwardness that seemed to surround the girls.

"Hai. My mouth's still burning from their last attempt," Minto agreed.

"But the question is what?" Zakuro asked.

"I have an idea. But I don't know if it'll be good enough," Retasu offered.

After nods to carry on, Retasu explained the prank in full detail, Zakuro and Minto editing out the flaws and Ichigo and Purin making it all the more crazy.

A little while later their plan was complete and ready for action. Going over their mental blueprints once more, they set to work wreaking havoc.

Kish leant back in his chair, propping his feet up on the round café table. He was sure that now there would be no more pranks from the girls. Especially after Ryou's little display of affection. It had become obvious to Kish that the tall blonde boy seemed to be crushing hard on his koneko. But it didn't matter. As long as Ichigo was away from that _other _boy, then he would be happy. And it didn't seem as if Shirogane would be much competition, Ichigo was more likely to go out with Tart than she would Ryou. Mostly because Ichigo thought of her boss as a jerk.

The alien was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realise the Monkey tip-toeing past him into the storage room, retrieving something and creeping back.

And he was so sure that there wouldn't be any more pranks pulled on him and the other guys, that when Minto came over and asked or the flowers that sat in a vase in the middle of the table, he gave them to her without a second thought.

It was only once she had left…..alright, two hours after she had left and there had been loud clattering from upstairs, did he finally click something was going on. But hey, he had managed to fall asleep for an hour or so in between.

Anyways, Kish stood and made his way to the basement where the rest of the guys sat. Stepping into the dimly lit room, he called out, "I think they're up to something."

As attention turned to him, Pai asked, "Will you be more specific when you say 'they're' please?"

"Well who else is it gonna be?" Kish grinned, happy to have outsmarted his intellectual friend.

"He has a point," Ryou agreed. Kish was almost startled that the older blonde boy had sided with him rather than Pai. But he shrugged it off. _Heh, he isn't as bad as koneko-chan says he is, _Kish thought.

"After all, the girls are the only others in the same building as us. So there's no-one else it could be," Shirogane continued.

Pai sighed in defeat. It was no use arguing.

"What are the girls up to then?" Tart questioned.

"I have no idea. But a couple hours ago, Minto came downstairs asking me for the flowers on the tables. Then a couple minutes ago I heard lots of banging and clatters, so I figured there must be something going on," he informed them happily.

"…A couple hours ago you first heard them?" Ryou raised his eye-brows.

"Baka, why didn't you tell us before? They'll have finished setting up whatever prank they have in store for us by now," Pai complained.

"Anou….well, I had no idea then," Kish admitted, sheepishly.

The three boys sighed.

"Well, we better check it out," Tart suggested.

She was finished. Finally finished. Stepping back to admire her work, she smiled. It was excellent, even if she did say so herself. Now all that was left to do was clean up.

Her ears popped up as she heard the door handle twisting. Spinning round as it opened, Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief noticing Retasu was the one who had entered. She gave the green-haired girl a cheerful smile and the Porpoise returned it.

"It looks great. Too bad Shirogane-san won't like it," Retasu commented.

"Hai. But it serves him right for thinking he can get away with tormenting me," the catgirl stated defiantly.

"I still agree with Zakuro on that whole 'why did Shirgane kiss you thery'. It seems more likely," Retasu shrugged.

"Whatever you want to believe, Retasu-chan," Ichigo said.

Ichigo's ears twitched as the unmistakeable sound of footsteps approached the door. Thinking it was another of the girls, she let it slide. It was only when the arrogant voice of Ryou could be heard did she realise they were in a danger zone. But it was too late.

And sure enough, seconds later, the blonde walked through the door. And what met his eyes made him stagger backwards in shock. Two Mew Mews standing the middle of his room. His now bright pink, flower laiden, girlish room.

His eyes darted amongst each girl and the room itself. Finally his gaze set, eyes narrowed, on Ichigo.

"Strawberry," he began calmly, though the anger and outrage behind his tone was undeniable. "What on earth have you done to my room?"

He gave her a few moments. Just as he was about to ask again, she answered.

"Pretty, isn't it? And I did it all by myself too, apart from collect things - Purin and Minto helped me with that. But I think I've done a good job of it, even if I do say so myself…." she trailed off as she noticed him seething.

As he spoke next, the catgirl realised he was gritting his teeth. "Do you know how much trouble you're in, Strawberry?"

Shaking her head slightly, her confidence fading, she gulped, leaned over and whispered to Retasu, "If I don't get out of this alive, tell Minto she's too lazy and should actually work instead of bossing me around. Now go."

Doing as she was told, Retasu edged her way out of the room. Ryou glanced at her but did nothing to stop the innocent girl.

Ichigo smiled nervously at her boss as her friend made it out of the room, clicking the door shut behind her. She silently counted down to when Shirogane would blow up at her. 5,4,3,2,1…..

Thumping could be heard from outside the room. Ichigo's screeches were often and loud. It sounded like Ryou was chasing her round and round the room, and when the stomping stopped abruptly, but the screaming continued, Retasu's suspicions had been confirmed. There was no way on the planet that the red-head could ever outrun Shirogane. Not a single possibility.

She walked away, fearful for her friend, but knowing she still had a task to complete…..

"Sh-shirogane? You're not g-going to do anyth-anything that would endanger your ultimate weaopon now are-are you?" Ichigo stuttered, fear making her voice wobble.

"Depends, now doesn't it," he answered.

"D-depends on wh-what exactly?" she asked.

"On what I feel like doing - oh, I know. I'll cut your paycheck for two months," he teased, grinning evilly.

"You'll do no such thing!" Ichigo snapped, anger taking advantage of her.

"Last time I checked, _I_ was _your_ boss and _you_ do as _I_ say. So I'll do what I want. Maybe I'll make you work longer." She groaned as he said this, not seeing the smirk etch itself onto his features. "Or maybe I'll let Kish decide."

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Ichigo yelled. "Ok, cut my stupid paycheck - wait, don't cut my paycheck, I'll work overtime. But aren't I the only one who works anyway, which means it'll be totally unfair….."

Ryou shook his head as she went off babbling to herself. From where he had her pinned against the wall, there was no escape and no way was he letting her free until he thought up a suitable punishment for her.

"Tell you what," he rudely cut into her ramblings. "You just do whatever I say for a whole week and we'll call it even - oh and after you redo my room back to the way it was."

"Deal. When?" the Wildcat questioned.

"How about….the first week of your Summer holiday's," he suggested.

"But my parents are away that week and you'll make me sleep at the café and --" Ichigo's whines were cut into again by Shirogane.

"Good idea. I think I'll use it," he smirked.

Ichigo groaned in horror as she discovered what she had just gotten herself into. But at least she had a few weeks to prepare herself for that torture. And that was a good thing, right……?

_I hope the girls are doing better than I am, _she thought, looking back at Ryou once more.

**A/N: **Well that's that. I'm not going to include Ichigo's punishment in this fic, but I will do a separate one for it.

**IMPORTANT: **I need more pranks!! I have completely ran out of ideas!! Plz send crazy prank ideas in your reviews otherwise I can't update!! The more ideas, the better!!

So I'll say SAYONARA for now and oh, does anyone know what Masaya and Keiichiro's names translate into. I just have no clue and it's bugging me

: ( Anyways BYE!!


	7. What Exactly Happened?

Ok, I have returned once more. Thankx to all of my reviewers!! Ok, so this next prank is from **Kin756894 **so enjoy!! I'm gonna ask my friend Pip if she'll do the disclaimer today.

KKKO: Ok, Pipin!!! Disclaimer time.

_(clattering in the background)_

KKKO: Er…..Pip?

Pip: The leprechaun made me do it!!

KKKO: Made you do what?

Pip: The fairy told me not to tell you!!

KKKO: Right….you're starting to sound crazier than Cleo - which is certainly a hard thing to do.

Pip: What did you want anyway?

KKKO: For you to do the disclaimer.

Pip: Right!! Kitty Kat K.O. doesn't own TMM - but the elves say she wants to own one paticular character….

KKKO: PHILIPPA!!!!!!!!...What's the use? They all know who that is by now anyway. Alright, onto the story.

Pip: The sprites say you will enjoy it!

KKKO: Oh brother…..

Chapter 6

What Exactly Happened?

"We brought you a make-up treat, na-no-da!!" Purin exclaimed as she found the boys sitting at one of the Café Mew Mew tables. Retasu followed, trying to carry a tray full of cakes, unfortunately she managed to trip over her own feet and the plate fell from her hands. But before it could hit the floor, Zakuro swiftly caught it and continued bringing it over to their so-called 'enemy'. Placing it down on the table, she put her hands on her hips and waited for one of the guys, at least, to take a cake. When none did, she raised her eyebrow.

"What, not good enough for you?" she asked, a note of impatience in her tone.

"We're not falling for that trick - especially when we just played it on you," Pai told her.

"And what trick are we talking about?" she asked as Minto and Ichigo stepped through the kitchen doors and walked over to join the group.

"The one where the cakes are full of nasty stuff," Tart explained.

"But we even made special ones just for you na-no-da," Purin said sadly.

Indeed there were four cakes in the center of the plate that were decorated with icing and cherries.

"Then they'll be the ones that have…..whatever you put in them in!" exclaimed the small alien.

"Look, if you don't want them then I'm having one," announced Ichigo as she reached over and took a iced cake. Peeling the wrapper off she bit into the treat. As everyone watched, she ate it, proving that there was nothing wrong with the cake. The boys were still skeptical and wouldn't touch the decorated buns, so it fell to the girls to devour them. But seeing as there was only four iced cakes to start with, Minto offered to eat the one of the plain ones, proving there was nothing wrong with them either.

So gingerly, Kish took a cake. As soon as he did, the other three copied his example. But once their cakes had been eaten, the boys fell asleep.

"So reverse psychology does work," Minto observed.

"Time to activate: Phase Two!!" Purin commanded excitedly.

Ryou awoke slowly, his head still groggy from the long slumber he had endured. Sitting up, he found himself in his PJ's, which consisted of no more than a pair of light blue sweatpants.

Rubbing his head in confusion, he muttered, "Must have been a dream."

He clambered out of his bed and stood. No sooner had he done this than the door flew open and an energetic red-head bounded in.

"Akasaka-san said to wake you up --" she began, but cut herself off as she noticed the blonde's attire. "SHIROGANE!! Put a shirt on!!" She then threw her hands over her eyes to stop her from seeing his bare chest.

"Definitly a dream," he confirmed.

"Huh?" Ichigo asked.

"Nothing, Strawberry. I just had a weird dream last night," Ryou said.

"What was it about?" the catgirl probed.

"And why would I tell you?"

"I don't know," she shrugged.

Groaning, he ushered the girl out of the room so he could get dressed. Thinking to himself that he must have slept in late if Ichigo was here before he was awake, he turned to check the clock. It read 5:19pm.

"STRAWBERRY!"

Wincing, Ichigo twisted round on the spot to face Ryou who leant on his doorframe, his expression questioning.

"Want to explain why my clock says it's 5:19 in the afternoon?" he asked.

"I knew I forgot to set one clock back," she scolded herself. Realising what she had just admitted, she grinned sheepishly at her boss.

"If I could suggest something, Strawberry…." he started.

"Hai?"

"Run."

Sprinting down the hallway and reaching the stairs, she shrieked. She jumped the stairs two at a time in order to get down them fast enough. But it was no use. Ryou was gaining. As she got to the bottom she took off into the café. Her friends turned to stare at her in confusion but as soon as Shirogane belted through the room in tow of her, they understood.

"That baka. She forgot to set his clock, didn't she?" Minto groaned.

"Seems like it," Zakuro replied.

After doing several laps of the building, Ichigo darted outside and into the fog. This was a mistake. She couldn't see a thing. Not even the café light were that visible. Everything went silent and eerily creepy. The only things that were audible were the bitter wind and creaking of the swaying trees. The mist swirled around her till the point where she could no longer see her feet. Shivering at the icy chill of the air she whimpered.

"It's like a scene out of a horror movie," she whispered. "I should probably head back to the café."

But as she twisted to face the opposite direction, the one she had thought she had come from, she found to her dismay that she couldn't see the lights of the building. Rotating 360 degrees, she found she couldn't see anything at all.

Her body began to quake with fear. Her whimpers became louder. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her head was beginning to spin. _Maybe if I retrace my steps I'll find my way back. I didn't go that far anyway, _Ichigo thought. She started calming down. Well, until two arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

The Irimote let out an ear-piercing scream. Once again her heartbeat quickened and the blood pounded in her head. She wanted to lash out at whatever had grabbed her, but found her body frozen stiff in fear and shock.

"Hush, Strawberry!"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, she immediately relaxed.

"Ryou?"

"It's me, Strawberry. Calm down, alright," he cooed, soothing the petrified girl.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, Ichigo twisted in Ryou's firm grasp. She looked up at him with wide eyes. He smirked.

"And since when do you call me 'Ryou'?" he asked teasingly.

She blushed scarlet, but didn't answer. Then something clicked --

"SHIROGANE YOU JERK!! YOU ALMOST FRIGHTENED ME OUT OF MY SKIN!!"

-- and she was back to normal. All Ryou did was laugh.

"I mean it!! I'll get you for that!!" she continued to yell.

"Haven't you already 'got me' several times today?" he asked.

She pouted and turned away from him.

Back inside the café, the other Mews were having much more fun. After putting sleeping medicine in the undecorated cakes, knowing the boys wouldn't take the iced ones, the girls had set all of the clocks back to early that morning and tried to convince the aliens that they had dreamt the whole thing. It hadn't been hard to get Kish and Tart to believe it, but it was a tougher challenge with Pai.

"So, how come we all had the same dream? Isn't that just weird? And how come the weather in our dream was exactly the same as it is now?" he questioned.

"Because…anou….dreams are weird na-no-da?" Purin answered hesitantly.

The more the girls tried to convince him, the less Pai believed them.

"So where is Shirogane-san and Ichigo-san?" he enquired.

"Outside na-no-da!!" Purin shouted, happy to know at least one of the answers to the questions he had been asking.

"Why?"

"Because, Ichigo-onee-chan tried to make Shirogane-san believe that he had dreamt our whole pranking each other, but she had forgotten to set his clock back, so he chased her and chased her and she went outside and he followed but for some reason they haven't come back in yet!!" she exclaimed.

"I thought so. In other words, you all tried to prank us again by making us believe that we had made up the whole thing as we slept?" Pai asked, a sly grin etched onto his face.

"Na-no-da!!" Purin yelled.

"PURIN-CHAN!" shouted Zakuro, Minto and Retasu in union.

"What? Was it something I said?" the younger Mew said innocently.

They groaned in reply.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Ryou stepped inside, carrying a struggling Ichigo.

"Put me down you jerk! First you scare the life out of me, now you think you can drag me wherever you want!" she shrieked.

"Technically, I'm not dragging you. And you weren't going to walk anywhere anyway."

"That's because I didn't want to risk getting even more lost!" she snapped.

"You weren't even 100 metres from the café!" he cried.

"And how would you know how far away I was?"

"I found you, didn't I?"

"And scared me half to death!"

"You were going to scare yourself to death just by thinking! Honestly Strawberry, I know you have disturbing thoughts, but I never knew you could petrify yourself with them!"

"Shut up," she finally said. "And I do not have disturbing thoughts!"

"So you knew about their little prank, Shirogane-san?" Pai asked.

"Yeah, I managed to figure it out whn my clock read twenty past five in the afternoon," he replied.

"I say we just give up. It's obvious the girls are going to win," Kish sighed.

"I agree," Tart piped up.

Ryou was about to argue when something occurred to him. "Fine," he agreed.

Pai looked at him questioningly, but went along with his friends.

"So this is it, the end of the prank war," Ryou announced.

"Yes, this is the end of the prank war," Ichigo said. But under her breath she whispered, "You wish….."

**A/N:** Dun dun duuuun!! Is this really the end of the prank war? Is Ryou really going to give up that easily? I'm not telling!!!!! You'll have to wait until I update - ooh, that rhymes.

But one thing for definite: **THIS STORY'S NOT OVER YET!!**


	8. How Not to Eavesdrop

Soz for taking ages to update, I've just been so busy these past few days. My friend came to stay over for a few days and I had no time to write anymore!! Anyway seven whole chapters - including the prologue!! Wow - never thought I'd get this far so quickly, only two weeks since I first posted this fanfic. I'm really grateful to all of the people who have reviewed as it has inspired me to write more sooner.

So this is the eighth installment of the war so I hope you like it. This chapter may be a little talkie, but it has to be. Today, I'm gonna get my kitten Jinx to do the disclaimer.

KKKO: Jinxie, will you do the disclaimer for me?

Jinx: Nya.

KKKO: If I say plz, will you?

Jinx: Nya.

KKKO: Plz?

Jinx: Nya.

KKKO: Is that all you say?

Jinx: Nya.

KKKO: I guess so. Ok, I'll do the disclaimer. I don't own TMM, nor does Jinx. Alright onto the story!!

Jinx: NYAAW!!!!

KKKO: O-k……..

Chapter 7

How Not to Eavesdrop

"What are you up to?" Pai questioned accusingly.

Putting on an innocent face, Ryou said, "Nothing."

Shaking his head, the alien gave the blonde a look of disbelief.

He just smirked in return.

Meanwhile, Kish and Tart were having an intense discussion about…ice-cream?

"I like chocolate!" Tart cried.

"Strawberry is so much better," Kish disagreed.

"You're only saying that because that's Ichigo's name!" Tart yelled.

"So? Does it matter?"

The small alien groaned. "What about Mint, then?" he asked cunningly.

"Anou…..I guess it's alright. Much better than banana," Kish replied.

"I LIKE BANANA!"

Spinning round, Ryou and Pai gave them surprised looks.

"Heh heh, we were talking about ice-cream," Kish admitted, sweatdropping.

Pai rolled his eyes whilst Ryou shook his head.

"So," Pai began, turning back to Ryou, "what are you planning?"

"Fine, since it's clear you know I'm got something worked out, I'll tell you. Strawberry's not going to give up, no matter what. She wants to try and get one over on me and she's not going to stop until she does," Ryou explained.

"Why?"

"Possibly because of all the times I've humiliated, embarrassed and teased her, but hey - she could have more motives. Anyway, I say we plan another prank, but first we go eavesdrop on the girls to see what they're planning and figure out how we can avoid it," he concluded.

"Sounds like fun! We get to listen in on the girls conversation and if we're lucky, they'll be talking about us," Kish grinned.

The other three boys shook their heads.

"What? It is night, and when girls have a sleepover they do tend to talk about guys and stuff like that, am I right?" Kish smirked.

Again, the other three just shook their heads.

The five girls had no idea they would pull a stunt like that and, apart from Ichigo, actually believed that the war was over. They were in the middle of a conversation about why Zakuro didn't mix well with journalists and newspaper photographers and didn't suspect a thing. Ichigo was in the middle of pouting because no-one believed her.

As they were doing this, the boys approached the door. From the other side, with their ears pressed against the wood, they could hear every word. Ryou particularly wanted to know what the Mews were saying, however, his reasons were the same as Kish's.

"Are they actually going to say something?" Tart asked in a whisper, beginning to already grow bored.

"Shhh!" commanded Ryou and Kish quietly.

Pai gave Tart a look as if to say 'well they're keen aren't they?'.

Once they had adjusted themselves properly, they all began to listen to what was being said.

With a slight laugh, Minto asked, "So you pushed him in?"

"Of course I did. He was annoying me. Damn paparazzi!" Zakuro replied, her tone full of annoyance.

"Onee-sama! You're not supposed to curse!" Purin cried.

It went silent and the eavesdroppers guessed that Zakuro must have shrugged.

"Anyway, that's boring. I want to change topic," she decided.

A murmur of reluctant agreement sounded and they picked their new subject.

"Ichigo?" Retasu asked nervously.

"Nya?"

"How are you feeling? Are you better now? You know, after what happened between you and Aoyama-san?" she continued.

"Hmm, I'm doing better, I suppose. In fact, the 'prank war' we were having made me forget," the catgirl replied. The sadness in her voice and her answer was genuine, somehow the war had made her forget, though how breaking up with the person she was sure she was so in love with had slipped her mind was a mystery.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for bringing it up then!" the green-haired girl apologized.

"It's alright, I guess I need to talk about it sometime. Anyway, who cares if Masaya has a new girlfriend! It's not as if I don't have any other crushes!...Heh heh, did I just say that out loud?"

"YES!!" all of her friends cried.

Outside the room, two of the boys became excited. If Ichigo had another crush, then maybe it was one of them. However, Ryou kept his cool, but Kish had to be warned to stop jumping around like an idiot otherwise the occupants of the living room would hear and they would be busted.

"Who is it? Is it someone from your school? Or is it someone we know, na-no-da?"

As the conversation carried on the boys turned their attention back to listening intently.

"I'm not telling."

"Please? Just answer Purin-chan's question at least."

"No Minto-chan! And I didn't know you begged. You seriously want to know that bad?"

"Of course we do," Zakuro replied firmly. "It's interesting, and anyway, don't best friends always tell each other when they like someone?"

"_When_ they like someone, yes. But _who_ they like, not always," Ichigo

"But you can at least tell us if we know them. I mean, that's not going to narrow our search by much."

"I guess you have a point. Yes, it's someone you know. But that's all I'm saying! The rest is embarrassing!" Ichigo cried, covering her hands with her face.

"Fine, we'll each take a guess and if we guess right then you have to say. If we don't then you have the right to keep it a secret," announced Minto.

"Ok, agreed. Go ahead. I'll stop you if you get it right," Ichigo sighed.

"Ooh! Ooh! Me first! Me first! Ok, is it…….Tar-Tar-kun, na-no-da?" Purin guessed.

"No way! Me have a crush on that midget!! Not that there's anything wrong with small people but he's too young for me Purin-chan!"

"Anou…is it Pai-san?" asked Retasu.

"Nope," Ichigo replied.

"Is it Akasaka-san? No wait - he's too old for you. Is it Kish?" Zakuro questioned.

"No way! He is fun to be around, though, I have to admit."

Outside, Kish smiled to himself. Although his koneko didn't like him, she still liked being with him.

"We all know him, am I right?" Minto asked.

"_Yes!!_" Ichigo shouted.

"Ok, ok. Just checking. So if we all know him, then there's only one person left it can be," she continued.

It all went completely silent. Everyone held their breath. The atmosphere both inside and outside of the room grew tense as they all awaited Minto's estimate.

"….It's Shirogane-san, isn't it?"

Everything remained silent. But Ichigo's face portrayed shock and nerousness and her cheeks were stained with red blush.

"Am I right, Ichigo Momomiya-chan?"

The blush that covered the Irimote's face deepened in colour.

"You have a crush on Shirogane-san, NA NO DA!!" Purin concluded in a yell.

"Purin-chan hush! He'll hear you if you shout that loud!" Ichigo warned, highly embarrassed.

"So it's true?" the Wolf asked slyly.

"HAI!! It's true…" though the first part was yelled, the second was muttered and muffled, seeing how the catgirl had buried her head in her lap.

"So?"

"_So_ what? I have a crush on Shirogane! That's it!" Ichigo snapped rather defensively.

"_So _why do you like him? How long have you liked him?" Minto probed.

"I have no idea! I just like him! I guess I finally figured it out yesterday, but I've had these feelings for a long time now. I thought they were ones of hatred, but I guess I was wrong - it was the complete opposite!"

"Why don't you ask him out?" Retasu suggested.

Once again, silence reigned the atmosphere.

On the other side of the door, Ryou was bright red. He had been hoping for that answer, but had never expected it. He thought Ichigo hated him and considered him a jerk._ Never_ did he seriously think her to have _feelings_ for him. But then again, didn't she say that she only realised yesterday? And didn't she think her feelings were different before that? Although he was happy that she had a crush on him, Ryou couldn't help but feel slightly upset that she thought she had hated him for years.

"You never hated him. You said so yourself. You just got frustrated and irritated whenever he teased you. And don't deny the fact that you loved the attention he gave you," Zakuro reasoned.

Ichigo sighed. "He teased me to no end! He always does, every opportunity that he gets! Plus he has that annoying pet name for me!"

"Which you absolutely love," Minto added.

"I DO NOT!" Ichigo whined.

Zakuro and Minto rolled their eyes.

"Why _don't_ you ask him out? Retasu-chan made a very good suggestion when she said it before. The two of you would make a very cute couple," Minto grinned, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.

"NO! As if Ryou would ever go out with me! He thinks I'm a ditsy baka!" Ichigo wailed.

"Why did you call him 'Ryou' again?" Retasu asked.

"Huh? Oh! Anou, no reason!" Ichigo replied a little too quickly.

"So you call him by his first name because you like it?" Zakuro questioned.

"Maybe if she says it to his face and admits her true feelings, the two of them will become boyfriend and girlfriend, then they'll fall in love and kiss and Ichigo-onee-chan will forget about Aoyama-san forever, and then she and Shirogane-san will get married and I'll not only be the bridesmaid but I'll be the entertainment too and I'll charge for people to watch me, and then I'll get famous and become rich and then I'll find out that Ichigo-onee-chan is having a baby and when it's born she'll name it after me, na no da!! And then --"

"PURIN-CHAN!"

"Can we please change the topic now?" Ichigo begged.

As they thought about a new topic, Purin heard a sound from the other side of the door. "Hello?" she called.

Her friends looked at her strangely.

"I thought I heard a noise coming from outside the room," she said.

Ichigo paled as footsteps sounded. It seemed as if there were at least four pairs and they were all heading down the corridor, away from the living room.

"They were listening weren't they?" the catgirl asked fearfully.

Everyone nodded.

"We'll get them back. And maybe we can use what they heard to our advantage…." Zakuro whispered.

**A/N: **Yeah, soz there was no prank in that chapter - but it is the build up to one meaning next chapter there'll be a prank.

I need pranks for the boys because so far I'm only getting suggestions for the girls (which is also one of the reasons they're winning).

I'll update as soon as I can, most likely in the next couple of days. But for now, BYE!!!


	9. A Girl's Gotta Do What She's Gotta Do

This time the girls are really going to get even!! This time Ichigo's going to get Ryou back - ok, I'll stop babbling and get on to the story. The prank in this chapter is from **Sk8erGrl chan**.

KKKO: Since I'm running out of people who have said they'll do the disclaimer, I've called Ruby and she's going to do it over the phone.

Ruby: So let's get this straight - Kitty Kat K.O. has never, doesn't and will never own TMM.

KKKO: (in shock) Wow - you didn't go on and on arguing with me this time.

Ruby: I want to read this too, you know!

KKKO: Right….Anyway, that's enough from Ruby (hangs up phone). At least I've got a way of shutting her up now.

Ruby (all the way in Switzerland): HEY!!!!!!

KKKO: Maybe not. I never knew she could shout that loud. Well, onto the story!!

Chapter 8

A Girl's Gotta Do What She's Gotta Do - Part 1

She couldn't sleep. Tossing and turning was useless. She just couldn't sleep. It wasn't that she was restless or anything along those lines. No, it was because her secret had been spilled. After Purin had heard the noise, Minto had gone downstairs to supposedly 'get a glass of water' but she really went down to check in case the boys _had_ heard the conversation. And it was clear that when she entered the room, saying only "I'm so sorry, Ichigo-chan." in a gentle voice that the boys knew. The poor catgirl's whole being had filled with dread. How on Earth could she face Shirogane now? She couldn't, not without losing her dignity.

Sighing as it was certain sleep was never going to come, although she was beyond tired, she stood up and walked to the door. As her hand grasped the handle, she turned to glance over her serene friends to check she hadn't woken them, before pulling on the door and stepping out of the room. She wandered slowly, her body obviously still in slumber although her mind was plagued with undying thoughts. After roaming aimlessly for ten minutes or so she entered the kitchen - and stopped dead when she did so. For there, sitting at the table, was Ryou.

Thankfully, Ichigo noticed that he hadn't seen her and attempted to back out of the room silently. All was going well until she knocked into the pans, sending the metal cooking implements crashing down to the floor with a resounding ring. The blonde's head immediately shot in the red-head's direction. Ichigo cast her gaze to her feet, suddenly finding the magenta nail-polish that was painted on her nails fascinating. But even though she tried to ignore it, she could feel Ryou's eyes boring into her. And it didn't seem that he was going to look anywhere else anytime soon.

It was quiet as neither one of them dared to speak, mainly because they both couldn't think of a single thing to say. Well, what would you do if your crush accidentally found out you liked him? Or if you suddenly found out the girl who you thought hated you had an enormous soft spot for you? Confusing and slightly embarrassing, huh?

After a while Ryou opened his mouth, but shut it instantly. It was unusual, but for the first time in his life he couldn't find anything reasonable to say that wouldn't make things more awkward. However, when he heard Ichigo sniff, slight concern for the catgirl surfaced and he found himself asking, "Are you alright, Strawberry?"

She glanced up at him, her cheeks red with blush. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Ju-just tired, is all," she stuttered.

He smirked when he noticed the colour of her face. "You seem very tired. So tired you're up and wandering all over the place. I did see you before you know." This only made Ichigo turn even redder.

"Yeah, well - whatever!" was all that she said.

"Hardly a good comeback," Ryou teased, seemingly unimpressed.

Ichigo merely glared. For a very long time. Soundlessness took over again between the two, until Ichigo broke it with a sigh.

"Look, whatever. I'm going back to bed," she said.

"Strawberry, wait." Of course, Ichigo normally would have ignored his order, had it not been for the gentleness in his tone. Turning back, she opened her mouth to complain…only to find his lips press firmly down on hers. The sensation from their first kiss returned. But unlike the last one, he didn't go any further. He broke away, and as soon as he did, Ichigo ran off.

_Ooh, that's it,_ she thought as she neared the living room where her friends slept. She opened the door and stepped inside, "He has so humiliated me for the last time!" and slammed the door behind her.

The sudden outburst and the bang of the door startled the sleeping Mews and they all jumped. Rubbing her eyes, a cranky Minto demanded, "What was that for?"

"Shirogane just kissed me! Again! I just get up to walk around because I can't sleep and he kisses me! He just catches me off guard! I want revenge and I want it now!" Ichigo replied.

Between herself, Minto and Purin, a loud rant formed. It was only when Zakuro decided she had had enough did anyone make a move to stop it. "Alright!" Every head in the room faced her. "Ichigo deserves revenge here. And it has to be good. We really need to get him back."

Ichigo grinned in triumph. With the Grey Wolf's help, she knew she'd get Shirogane back with ease. Even more so with _all_ of her friends helping her.

"Now, how do we twist this situation…….?"

It was morning sooner than the girls had anticipated. They had stayed up the rest of the night to plan how to claim revenge on Shirogane. That day the weather was still as miserable as the past couple. Rain fell from the sky in cold, forceful droplets. However, it wasn't so bad that a certain purple-haired supermodel and a blue-haired ballerina couldn't dash outside and onto the street corner to wait for the limo Zakuro had called in order to get them to her place. They had left Retasu, Purin and a finally asleep Ichigo to do as they pleased at the café until they came back. But they were under strict instructions not to let the red-head see Ryou or any of the aliens. Keiichiro was an exception. In fact, he was aiding the Mews in their revenge scheme. Because he had been there from the beginning and had had a hand in raising the boy, Keiichiro knew what Ryou liked and didn't like. And he had found out along the way, what with the boy's raging hormones in his early teens, what did and what didn't turn him on. Which was exactly what the girls needed in order to get him back.

Once the two of them arrived at the Fujiwara mansion, they ran inside and straight to Zakuro's room. Needless to say it was huge. But the wardrobe was bigger. It was a walk-in one and filled with the most amazing clothes.

Minto was in awe. She had never been in the models home before. And had never been in a place so full of clothes - it was bigger than a boutique in town and crammed with all of the latest fashions.

"These are all yours?" Minto asked breathlessly.

"Hai. I sometimes get to keep the clothes from the shoots I do. I also get some smaller sized ones - just in case any of you need them. Like now for instance," Zakuro replied.

"So, you're going to lend Ichigo-chan some of your clothes?" the Lorikeet questioned.

"Hai. Some of the stuff I've got is really kawaii and from what Akasaka-san said, I think it may be the right stuff to get Shirogane-san to pay attention," the model explained.

"Hmm, so what exactly are we going to use? We need something pink, because that's just Ichigo-chan. And she looks better in a skirt or dress than trousers, so…" Minto trailed off as Zakuro held up a couple of items.

"She did look quite nice in your clothes the other day. Because of her hair colour, she seems to suit blue. That would be good for a mature look. Pink makes her look more energetic and girly, so that would be good for a cute look. But then to really mess with Shirogane-san, we need something that'll make her look atsui…" Zakuro began to hunt for the perfect outfits in her wardrobe, flicking through one section of the room after another.

"You know a lot about colour coordination and what'll suit what particular style," the blue girl commented.

"Well, I am a model. So it kinda rubs off. I've had good fashion sense for years and I owe it to my career. Anyway, it's easy to tell what colours look good on all of you simply because I've known you for so long. Although I never would have guessed that Ichigo-chan would look good in blue until I saw her in your clothes, but….FOUND IT!"

Minto jumped at the sudden exclamation from her friend. She stopped looking around at the clothes (especially the royal blue satin dress that she quite fancied) and focused her attention instead on what Zakuro held in her hands.

"Oh…wow…" was all she was able to say.

"If Shirogane-san doesn't like this then it's hopeless," the purple girl smirked.

Nodding her head in agreement, Minto stooped down to pick up the other outfits that lay on the floor where Zakuro had left them. As she turned to exit the wardrobe, carrying two of the outfits, she heard Zakuro call, "And you can have that blue dress you were eying up."

Turning in surprise, a blush spread across her face, she saw Zakuro smiling lightly. Minto grinned and took the dress from it's hanger, folding it and adding it to the pile. Shortly after, the two girls set off back to the café, the absolute perfect outfits for revenge in hand…

Retasu sighed as she sat in the living room, trying to calm herself down. In the last half an hour Ichigo had awoken and announced she was going to have a shower. But she hadn't used the general bathroom - no, she had used Ryou's ensuite. And as Retasu sat talking to Keiichiro, Purin who had been keeping guard so that no-one would find out where Ichigo was, had come back and virtually shouted, "Shirogane-san just went into his room and Ichigo-onee-chan isn't out yet!" So Keiichiro had had to go in and distract Ryou then persuade him to come out. Then Ichigo had gotten embarrassed that she was using Ryou's towels and had once again transformed into a cat. Purin had offered to help her return to her human form since Keiichiro couldn't due to the fact that there was a chance he may see something that would leave the neko scarred for life. As soon as that was done, Kish had walked in on them - Ichigo only in a towel - and the red-head had thrown a shrieking fit. If that wasn't enough, she started hurling things at the alien which had also managed to hit Retasu and Purin. Once they had finally gotten the alien out there was a knock at the door which turned out to be Ryou saying one of his towels was missing and did they know anything about it. Of course they knew where it was - wrapped around Ichigo's body, but they weren't going to dare tell Ryou that. When he had gone Ichigo had insisted the two Mews left the room so she could get dressed. They had done so without question - but as soon as they were outside the room, Kish tried to get back in so they had to pin him against the wall. That was mostly done by Purin though. However, Tart came along the corridor meaning Purin had leapt onto him and clung like a limpet, leaving Retasu to stop Kish walking in on an indecent Ichigo. Of course, she had forgotten to tell the alien this, and when Ichigo had (thankfully) came out of the room fully clothed and had told Kish she had been getting dressed, his only response was, "Well why didn't anyone tell me that before?" Since then, it had been quiet and calm, although it had taken the two older Mews, Kish and Keiichiro (who had returned) to peel Purin off of Tart. So, yeah, Retasu was completely in need of time to relax. Unfortunately for her, Zakuro and Minto had just arrived meaning it was time to start the prank.

Everything was going to get even more hectic and confusing…..Ryou had just better watch out…

**A/N: **Ooh, cliffy! This is only part one of two - or three - meaning there's more from this prank to come. Let's see if anyone can guess what's going to happen. If anyone gets it right I will dedicate the next chapter to them.

Well, bye for now. But there will be more very soon….


	10. A Girl's Gotta Do What She's Gotta Do 2

I promised an update ASAP, so here it is! Ok, not ASAP, but still. Part 2 of Ichigo's revenge - now it's really going to get crazy! I think the end of Prank Wars is in sight, then again, maybe it'll carry on for a little longer. But, seeing as I'm making it up as I go, I have absolutely no idea!! Talk about lack of planning! Anyway, for now there's still a couple of chapters, maybe a twist or two - I just don't know. Well, I'll stop boring you all and get onto the disclaimer or it'll never end!

KKKO: I'm going to ask my BFF Megan to do this chapter's disclaimer. Hey Megan!

Megan: I LOVE KISH!! Anyone agree?

KKKO: He's defiantly one of my fave characters - after Ryou and Ichigo, of course.

Megan: Well he's my all time favourite!

KKKO: Ok, plz can you do the disclaimer now?

Megan: Do I have to do it now? We were right in the middle of an important conversation.

KKKO: (pulls out TMM manga volume 7) If you do it now, I'll give you this back.

Megan: NOOO! I've been looking for that! The only one I haven't read!

KKKO: It is mine you know. But do the disclaimer and you can read it.

Megan: Right. Kitty Kat Knock Out doesn't own TMM - just the manga volume she bought which she is dangling in front of my face.

KKKO: Good girl, Megz. (tosses Megan manga) Well, while she reads that we'll get onto the story.

(BTW, 'Knock Out' is what the K.O. stands for, just for anyone who didn't know.)

Chapter 9

A Girl's Gotta Do What She's Gotta Do - Part 2

"I can stand the first two outfits - but that?! No way!" Ichigo shrieked, waving her hands around in the air.

"That's just tough then, isn't it? If you don't the whole prank will be ruined," Minto snapped.

"Why don't we talk about it later, na no da? Shirogane-san will get suspitusi if we hide any longer," Purin exclaimed.

"It's suspicious, Purin-chan," Retasu kindly corrected.

"That's what I said, na no da."

The older girls just sighed then continued in what they were doing. Zakuro massaged her temples as Minto and Ichigo started the second round of their little fight. This was getting them nowhere.

"Right we're going to do what Purin-chan suggested," she finally said, aggravated. "We'll talk you into wearing the last outfit later Ichigo-chan, but for now we really need to get started. So go get changed, Purin-chan keep watch, Minto-chan get the make-up, Retasu-chan hide the other outfits. Meanwhile, I'll set up for doing her hair."

Each Mew nodded and ran off to do whatever she had been told to. Out in the hallway was silent and still - apart from Purin marching back and forth, back and forth, saluting and saying to herself, "Nobody will get through with Purin Fong on guard, na no da!"

Back inside, Ichigo was now in her first outfit and getting her make-up done by Minto. Once her blush and eye-shadow was applied, the Lorikeet handed Ichigo some lipgloss. She put it on then Zakuro started on her hair. It was pulled back into a tiny ponytail with blue butterfly clips at one side. The eye-shadow was a pale blue, as was the strapless top she wore. Her skirt was snow white and the jacket was also. She didn't have her knee-high socks on, instead she wore a pair of short white boots with kitten heels.

Zakuro and Minto had chosen the 'mature' look, just to prove something to Shirogane. It would surely confuse him seeing as the red-head was normally anything _but_ mature. But it may provoke his interest in the girl or it may send him into shock. They would just have to wait and see. Keiichiro had given them a video camera to record what would happen, so they could watch it again and again and again if it was humiliating/embarrassing for Shirogane.

After one last look over, they concluded that Ichigo was ready. Now it was time for the fun to begin.

As he sat at the kitchen table, his head buried in his arms as he slumped forward, Ryou thought about last night. What had possessed him to kiss her he did not know. Maybe it was his annoyance of the girl - just wanting to tease her or make her shut up? Maybe he just did it for the heck of it - he was sixteen and before his liplock with the Irimote the other day, he had never been kissed. Maybe - what was the use. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't come up with a suitable answer.

Just then he heard a door click and in walked...

"Hey Ryou."

Looking up the blonde boy saw…his best friend. "Hey Keiichiro," he replied. (**A/N: You all thought it was going to Ichigo, didn't you? Admit it, you did.)**

"Anything troubling you?" the brunette asked with a kind smile.

"No," Ryou sighed. "Well, anou…kind of."

"What is it?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing much."

"Alright then. I'll leave you alone. It's getting close to lunch time. The girls will be wanting food. So I'd better start making some food --"

"No! It's ok! I'll make it!"

Turning to the doorway, they found Ichigo. Ryou's eyes instantly widened at the sight of her. She stood with her hands on her hips, a sweet smile painted onto her face. And what she was wearing made her look ten times more grown up than her usual get-up.

"Are you sure?" Keiichiro asked.

"Of course, Akasaka-san. You cook all of the time, so it'll be a nice change for you for once if someone else did all of the cooking," she replied.

"If you're sure. I'll go sit down then," he said, before strolling out of the kitchen, leaving the blonde alone with the red-head.

After a quick glance at Ryou, she went about the kitchen lifting down a couple of pots and opening cupboards to see what food was available. Coming up with nothing suitable for a meal - for about eleven, now - she sighed.

"Honestly, Shirogane. Do you live on dust or something? These cupboards are completely empty," she twisted her head round with her hands still grasping the doors and raising an eye-brow at the boy.

He shook his head briefly, as if coming out of a trance. "No, it's just there's normally only me here. Now there's over ten."

She smiled and continued rummaging. He watched her for a little while longer in silence. She could feel his eyes burning into her and decided that since she had his full attention, it was time to start flirting.

Sighing once more, she stopped what she was doing and strutted over to Ryou. Halting right in front of him, she crossed her arms just below her chest and frowned slightly. "There's nothing to eat," she stated plainly.

"Hmm," was all Ryou could respond. After all, she had stopped _right _in front of him, so close she was almost touching him.

"Well, if you're not going to help…" she began to walk past him, her arm brushing against his shoulder, "then I'll have to go out in this rain and buy something."

"Wait!"

Grinning to herself for a mere second before moulding her expression to a neutral one, she turned back and said innocently, "Hai?"

"You'll get wet if you go out. How about just baking a cake or something like that?"

"A cake instead of a meal? Do you normally eat that? I guess not, otherwise you'd be chubby but you've got quite a hot body," Ichigo said.

She could see the boy was trying to fight his blush at her last comment. Truthfully she thought she would have been able to get him with that, make him really go red and flustered. She'd have to try harder. But didn't Minto make it clear that she had to keep the flirting subtle and casual? She'd have to wait until her next outfit for the more hinted part of the prank. And then her last outfit…how the heck could she even wear that in front of Ryou?! She'd just have to cross that bridge when she came to it and focus on the task at hand for now.

"So, are you going to help me, or what?" she asked him.

He just sat there, silent and unmoving. She rolled her eyes. Walking over to him again, she clicked her fingers and flicked his forehead. He instantly snapped out of staring into space.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

She smirked in response. "Come on, we're baking."

"I don't bake," he grumbled, but stood and joined her anyway. Smiling, she opened the cupboard and handed him the flour. Then, going to the fridge, she picked out the butter and the eggs.

"We need sugar aswell," she told him, obviously meaning for him to get it out.

After taking it out of another cupboard, he brought it back to her, placing it on the bench.

"Arigato."

Lifting out a bowl and spoon they set to work. A little while later they were finished and the cake was in the oven. Ryou took a seat at the table. Ichigo looked at him, turned to look at the floor then looked back at hi again. Grinning to herself, she grabbed the bag of floor, put her hand in and took some out and sprinkled it over his head. As floor rained down on him an expression of horror overcame him. However, it was quickly replaced by a playful smirk and he snatched the bag from Ichigo, throwing some floor onto her.

"Shirogane!" she shrieked. Dashing back over to the cupboard she took out yet another bag of the soft white stuff and began chucking some back at him. It wasn't long before floor was flying back and forth between the two. It hit everything and what it didn't at first was soon covered.

They were running all over the café - apart from upstairs - throwing flour around like they were five, not teenagers. But all good things have to come to an end and so did the flour. The bags were empty before long. But that didn't stop Shirogane. He hadn't been this happy since he was ten and out in his vast gardens in America, running around with his dog Daisuke. No, he wasn't going to let his fun end so abruptly.

So he walked back inside the kitchen, leaving an out of breath Ichigo to collapse on one of the chairs. She sat for a while in silence, not even thinking. Hearing the kitchen door open once more she glanced up and only just managed to catch the airborne object that came hurtling at her. Catching it in time, she looked at it to see exactly what it was. And screamed.

Ryou walked over to her confidently, a smirk etched onto his features, shaking none other than a can of whipped cream. She looked at him in horror and opened her mouth to speak but before she could say anything he sprayed cream into it. Swallowing, she glared. Shaking up her own can she pulled off the top and fired it at him. Whipped cream landed on his shirt and Ichigo laughed.

"Think that was funny, did you?" he asked.

"Hai --" she began, but cut herself off as she realised he was taking his top off. She tried her hardest to stop the blush from rising but, alas, she failed. She just couldn't help it - he was shirtless!!

As if that wasn't enough, he got as close as he possibly could to her, pulled her top agape then squirted cream down it and onto her chest.

Her eyes almost bugged out of her head. She couldn't believe he had just done that! But shock left her and squirted him back. Then she turned and ran. He gave chase and she shrieked as she saw him coming after her.

It was another hour before they stopped. And once they did they virtually fell down. Fortunately for him, Ryou had the sense to collapse into a chair at one of the tables. Putting his head in his hands he let out a deep breath. Glancing up at Ichigo he chuckled. She was spread out across the floor, panting.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him.

He just chuckled to himself again.

She smiled, realising something. Ryou had laughed. He had been smiling. And it was all genuine. She had never seen him like this. So happy. It proved that he could be really fun to be with. Once he let down the emotional walls he had built and let go.

She got up to leave. However, before she did, she pecked him on the cheek. Muttering, "Zakuro-chan's going to kill me for getting her clothes dirty." She left the room, trooping back upstairs to join her friends.

He was stunned. Never did he ever imagine that Ichigo would kiss him - even if it was a quick peck on the cheek. Oh well, she was pretty confusing at times…like always…

**A/N: **It looks like this is going to be a three part prank. Meaning more for me to write.

I have to go because it's getting pretty late over here. So until next time SAYONARA!!


	11. A Slight Twist

Thankx to everyone who's reviewed! I really appreciate it! Hopefully this will be the 2nd last chapter of Ichigo's revenge - cos I really want Ryou to prank her back!! It's fun writing it though.

Mew Mew Power is finally on TV in England so I get to watch the anime at last! Even though it is the American dub and their names are different, who cares!! TMM rules - no doubt about that!!

Anyway, it seems as if you're all dieing to know what Ichigo is going to wear for her 3rd outfit. I've got the style of it but I don't know what colour it should be.

So **YOU **as reviewers get to decide. Should it be:

- white

- red

- black

- silver

or

- any two of the four colours

Plz vote in your reviews. I haven't got anyone to do the disclaimer today so I'll just have to do it myself.

KKKO: I do not, have never and will never own TMM. So let's get onto the story!!

Chapter 10

A Slight Twist 

Ichigo laughed to herself. She would never forget the look on the girl's faces when she had returned, covered in whipped cream and flour. (**A/N: Sorry, in the last chapter I kept writing flour as floor! Baka me!)**

And once she had explained that it was Ryou who had done it to her, her friends had burst into fits of hysterical laughter. They didn't believe her in the slightest! Oh, well.

"So, is the food ready yet?" Purin asked, her stomach grumbling.

It was only then that Ichigo realised - because of their playfight, both Ichigo and Ryou had forgotten all about the cake.

"Oops…" the catgirl said.

"Don't tell me you forgot to cook something," Minto rolled her eyes.

"Anou…no, we didn't forget to _cook_ something…" Ichigo began.

"Well, then that means the food's ready and we can finally go eat!" Purin exclaimed jumping up to her feet.

"Not exactly…we kinda forgot to take the food out of the oven…"

"ICHIGO MOMOMIYA!!"

Ichigo tried to cover her cat ears that had popped up in order to stop her going deaf.

"Nya?"

Minto raced downstairs and into the kitchen. She saw smoke pouring from the oven. She coughed as it began to seep into her lungs. Between her coughs she managed to mutter, "Baka Ichigo."

Fanning the air in an attempt to clear some of the smoke, she advanced toward the metal cooking device. She had almost reached it when Retasu entered the kitchen behind her.

Turning to see her friend, Minto asked, "Could you help me?"

Quickly, Retasu ran to her side and the two forced the oven door open. Ichigo charged into the room just as Retasu and Minto were blasted with more of the thick black cloud.

"NYA!" she meowed, rushing to help them. But Purin got there first, hauling the cake out of the oven. However, the cake tin was scolding hot and the girl started to throw it up and down in the air, shrieking every time she caught it.

"PURIN-CHAN! DROP IT!" Minto yelled.

So she obeyed. And dropped it right onto her toes. Hopping because the weight of it had crushed her poor little feet Purin yelped, "OWIE! NA NO DA!"

The girls had momentarily forgotten their dilemma with the oven and as Retasu turned, her hand caught on the metal racks inside it.

She gasped and leapt away from it. The smoke was still pouring out into the room, and unfortunately Purin had closed the door so the room was filling up pretty fast. Minto began coughing again and it was not long before the other three had joined her. They were choking on the burning produce. Everything started spinning as Ichigo looked around. She was becoming dizzy and faint. It wasn't long until she would be unconscious. A few seconds later this was the case. Ichigo had blacked out. And a moment later, Purin joined her.

"Ichigo-chan! Purin-chan!...Minto-chan, they aren't answering!" Retasu cried.

Minto couldn't answer due to the fact she wasn't able to stop coughing long enough. She was keeled over on the floor and as Retasu bent down to see her, she fell to he own knees, the world going round and round.

Just as they were both about to loose consciousness, two figures bust threw the door…

Opening her eyes, she looked around, taking in her surroundings. At first she didn't recognize anything, but eventually she realised she was in Ryou's room.

"Onee-chan, are you awake?" came a meek voice from beside her. Glancing up, she saw Purin, her hands bandaged, sitting on the end of the bed. Ichigo sat upright.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Well, you and me blacked out and Minto-onee-chan was coughing and coughing and Retasu-onee-chan fainted after a while. But we didn't die because Shirogane-nii-san and Zakuro-onee-sama came in and got us out. When I woke up my hands were bandaged and Kish-kun was sitting in the room. He said that Retasu had gained conschiousiness a little while after she woke up and that Shirogane-nii-san was in big trouble with Akasaka-san. That's all I know, na no da," she answered quietly.

Ichigo smiled sympathetically as she caught the young girl staring at her burnt and wrapped hands.

"One: Purin-chan, I think you mean consciousness. Two: Since when did you start calling Shirogane 'nii-san'? And three: why's he in trouble?"

"Because he was carrying on with you and the two of you left the oven on for an hour or more and everything began smoking and burning and we all could've died, na no da," she replied.

Ichigo nodded.

Suddenly, the door opened and in walked Kish.

"Hey, koneko-chan. Glad to see you're awake," he said, smiling.

"Hi. Is everyone ok?" she asked him.

"Well, Retasu-chan is fine," he chuckled slightly as he added, "and Minto-chan lost her voice due to all of her coughing."

"Is Shirogane really in trouble?" she questioned.

"He was shouted at by Akasaka-san for being 'foolish' and was sent to one of the spare rooms until further notice. I swear," Kish mused, "that Akasaka-san sounded like an angry parent. It was quite funny now that I think about it."

"It…wasn't just Shirogane's fault. In fact…it was mainly mine because I was the one who threw flour at him in the first place. I'm going to see him," Ichigo sighed as she got onto her feet and started towards the door.

"According to Akasaka-san, you aren't getting off the hook, koneko-chan. But you probably won't get into as much bother and won't get shouted at," Kish said.

She turned to face him before shaking her head and leaving the bedroom. Walking slowly down the corridor, she saw a room she hadn't been in before and opened it. Peering inside, she found it empty. Moving on to the next room, she pushed on the door. It was locked.

Trailing down the hallway, she tried door after door only to find them the same as either of the first two.

Finally reaching the last door, she pushed it and it clicked open. Quickly checking to see whether or not it was occupied by her blonde boss, she discovered it was. She stepped in and closed the door silently so he would not know she was there. He sat on a chair facing the window, his head being held up on of his hands while the other fell limp to his side.

Walking slowly over to him she decided that it would be fun to startle him for once. So as soon as she got right behind him, she reached out her arm to tap him on the shoulder, only to have it grabbed by his dangling hand. His head snapped round to face her. When he saw who it was he smirked, then with his free hand pointed to his head. Ichigo immediately put her own free hand to her head just to find something soft and furry before she came into contact with her hair.

She let out a "Nya!" and patted her cat ears down. Her frantic pats slowed as she realised Ryou was still holding her hand. She blushed and her feline features sprang up again.

He rolled his eyes and let go. Ichigo saddened inside, though she didn't show it. But she had, sort of…liked him touching her.

"So, what are you doing here?" Ryou asked.

"Came to see you," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Why?"

"Heard you were in trouble for something I did," she spoke softly, guilt consuming her tone and her eyes suddenly becoming downcast.

"Strawberry, it wasn't your fault," he sighed.

"Yes it was!" she cried. "I was the one who sprinkled flour over you! I started the fight that made us forget!"

He shook his head. "But I should've remembered." He was silent for a moment before continuing. "I shouldn't have even done that in the first place."

"Yes you should."

He looked at her passionate expression and was instantly puzzled.

Seeing the look he was giving her, Ichigo explained, "You had fun. Honestly, that's the first time I've ever seen you that happy. And I like seeing you smile."

Her eyes were sparkling, Ryou noted. That had to be a good thing. So that meant that what she was saying was genuine.

"Really?" he whispered, leaning closer.

"Hai," she replied, becoming flustered.

"That's cool," he breathed into her ear.

Bringing his head back slightly, he stared into her chocolate eyes. She gazed back and as she did so, something came over her. She leant forward closing the gap. Her eyelids fluttered shut and so did his as the two kissed for the third time. They moved their lips simultaneously, not even needing to think about it. Taking a chance, Ichigo deepened the lip-lock by easing his mouth gently open and slipping her tongue inside.

But suddenly, Ichigo realised what she was doing and broke away from him, though she kept her head close. She stared at him in shock. But before she could pull away completely, he swiftly placed his hand behind her neck and pushed her back down. His mouth clamped onto hers and this time she didn't reject him.

It was a while before they broke apart again, and it when they did it was only for air. And a very good time to aswell. For seconds later, Keiichiro walked into the room.

"Ryou, I need to --" he started, however cut himself off when he saw the other occupant of the room. The red-head smiled at him then exited, leaving the two bishonen to talk amongst themselves in private.

"He's going to get it for that," she muttered under her breath as she trooped back along the hallway and into the living room, where she was sure her friends would be.

And she was right.

"Konnichiwa," she greeted upon entering.

Minto turned and glared at her.

"What's wrong Minto-chan?" the Wildcat asked.

Minto's glare intensified.

"Ichigo-onee-chan, I told you that Minto-onee-chan lost her voice!" Purin almost shouted.

"Oh, yeah," Ichigo admitted, tipping her head slightly to the side in thought.

The blue-haired girl turned back and folded her arms across her chest, held her chin high and pouted.

"So, did you see Shirogane-nii-san?" the small girl asked curiously.

"Hai, I talked to him. He blames the whole thing on himself," Ichigo replied.

Minto gave her best friend a look as if to say 'well it was your fault I lost my voice'. Ichigo picked up on this and winced.

"Sorry, Minto-chan," she apologized.

The next expression she received seemed to mean 'so you should be'.

"I think we better put the prank on hold for now," Zakuro suggested.

"No way! Shirogane just got me again! Twice more! He needs to pay! I'll even wear the last outfit!" the catgirl cried.

"Really?" Retasu questioned. "I thought you said nothing would ever get you to wear that?"

"I've changed my mind. After all, I need to get him back more than ever. The thought of him made me transform into a neko, he humiliates me, kisses me tricks me into being his slave when the Summer Holidays come round, scares me half to death, eavesdrops on me, fids out I'm crushing on him, teases me, kisses me again, has a flour fight with me, sprays whipped cream on me - spoiling my outfit (or rather yours Zakuro-chan) and starting another food fight - then makes me kiss him, and when I pull away he pulls me back for another!!!" she ranted, counting off on her fingers all of the things he had done to her in the last few days.

"'Made you kiss him'?" Zakuro asked suspiciously.

"Anou…well, not exactly 'made me' but he made it way too tempting to not."

Glancing at each other, Minto and Zakuro raised their eyebrows, Retasu smiled kindly and Purin leapt about the room yelling, "Oh wow! Oh wow! Shirogane-nii-san and Ichigo-onee-chan are in love na no da!"

"Purin-chan!" Ichigo hissed.

"What? It's true na no da."

Before Ichigo could deny it, Zakuro cut in, "Well, are we going to finish this prank or not?"

**A/N:** A little twist to keep you in suspense. I'm so mean, aren't I? But it doesn't matter. You'll just have to wait for the next chapter. I have no idea when I'll be able to get the next chapter posted because I have quite a busy week, so I probably won't have time to update. But I'll try, so watch out for it!!


	12. Talking

YAY!! Over hundred reviews!! I'm so happy!! Probably a bit too happy cos I think I've gone giddy, but who cares?! I'm a very weird person.

Thankx so much for voting what colour the 3rd outfit should be! After counting all of the votes, they have been sorted and I can now reveal to you the colour of the outfit will be…….

Tell you what, I won't spoil the surprise!! I'll let you read and find out!

Instead of having a weird disclaimer where my friends just don't listen to me, I'm going to put on some of a song. Here it is:

_You are in my arms each night_

_When I hold my pillow tight_

_I'm just dreamin' about you_

_Always dreamin' about you_

_Though we are so far apart_

_You are there inside my heart_

_When I'm dreamin' about you_

_Always dreamin' about you_

**- Always Dreamin' About You**

_**by **_**Puffy AmiYumi**

Anyway, I don't own TMM. Now, onto the story!!

Chapter 11

Talking

After flinging the top over her head, Ichigo admired her appearance in the mirror. The cute pink off-the-shoulder tee was adorable! So much so that she would have to ask Zakuro if she could keep it. And the design on it suited her perfectly - a black kitten sitting with strawberries crowded around it. It was if it was made especially for her!

The pleated black skirt fell to mid-thigh and clung to her hips nicely. Her hair was tied in her signature bunches/pigtails with two red ribbons. Her socks were there again, black shoes topping off the 2nd outfit.

The average-Ichigo-look was complete. She was ready to get back in there and win the battle. Then, she would be one step closer to winning the war.

"Nice. It suits you," came a casual voice from behind her.

Facing the direction from where the compliment had sounded, Ichigo smiled. "Arigato, Zakuro-chan," the red-head thanked her friend.

Zakuro leant against the wall, her arms crossed and a ghost of a proud smile playing across her lips. She had to admit, Ichigo had an aura of happiness and excitement about her. Zakuro could tell she was liking this prank. _Just wait until she gets onto the third outfit. Then the sparks are really going to fly…let's just hope Ichigo-chan doesn't catch on to our __**real**__ plan…_

As her train of thought left her, she began to speak to the girl in front of her who was twirling round and round in front of the mirror, acting as giddy as Purin on a really good day.

"You can keep it if you want," she offered. "That is, if the prank goes off without any complications - or disasters, in your case."

"Zakuro-chan, you sound like Minto-chan or Shirogane when they start having a go at me! Thank you for the top, though," Ichigo grinned.

"The top? I'm letting you have the whole outfit."

Her mouth widened and the room was quiet…until a slight high pitched sound began to emit from the red-head's throat, growing louder and louder before it became a full-on, typical Ichigo-shriek.

"Zakuro-chan, you are the best!" Leaping halfway across the room, Ichigo grabbed Zakuro, clinging to her in a tight hug.

"O-k….you…can g-get…off of…me…now…" the supermodel managed to get out, despite the fact she could barely breathe.

Finally letting go, Ichigo continued to grin at the elder girl.

Rolling her eyes, though in a fond way, Zakuro said, "C'mon. We need to get this next part of the prank underway."

Nodding enthusiastically, Ichigo followed the Wolf out of the door and down the hallway to try and find their oblivious boss…it was so much fun to humiliate him…

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Eventually, she found him. He was sitting in the garden, staring at the fountain as it bubbled and spurted. The water sloshed about in the pool where it was caught. He could see her face in it, he knew she was behind him.

"Are you leaving then?" she asked.

"Yes." It was all he could say. For almost a week all he could think of was _her_. And when he had texted her a few days ago, he had expected an instant reply. Of course _she_ would still be crazy over him. After all, how could _she _resist him. He had thought it was impossible at first, when he hadn't received a text back. His cousin had told him that maybe _she _was mad at him. Maybe _she_ didn't want him back - or even in _her _life. But now, some part of him thought it was true. He had ditched _her_ just because another girl had come along who was amazingly hot - but then again so was _she_. However, this other girl was older. He was a fool to think he actually had a chance with her - at least that's what she had said when he had finally asked her out. Now, he had dumped his perfectly good girlfriend who was waiting for his return in Japan, and he had no idea if _she_ would ever get back together with him. And now he was on his way back to Japan to win her over - and stop that jerk Shirogane or that pathetic alien from laying their hands on his Ichigo.

"Your plane should be taking off in a couple hours then," the girl behind him informed him.

"Good. Thank you Enzeru-chan," he said. "And thank you for having me over. It's been fun to see my favorite cousin again."

"I still think you should leave this poor girl alone, Masaya-kun. I don't think what you did to her was right," Enzeru stated, her tone going cold.

"I only broke up with her for another girl. I'm going back to her now, aren't I?"

"Only because the other girl turned you down," sighed Enzeru.

Getting to his feet he smiled before walking away.

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There he was. Sitting on the grass outside the café.

_Shirogane, prepare to be pranked for the second time today_, Ichigo thought as she crept up behind him.

She managed to sneak right up to him without him noticing, but as she went in to shock him, her mouth open to speak, he did it again.

"Hey, Strawberry," he said softly. Turning to her and patting the ground beside him, he added, "Wanna sit?"

Surprised at first, Ichigo shook her head and took him up on his offer, kneeling next to the boy. Glancing at Ryou, her features took on an awestruck expression. How could anyone be so…words couldn't describe it. The setting sun's light reflected on his skin making him glow, seemingly from inside. His hair had changed to a more heavenly gold. And his eyes… When he faced her, his eyes were so much more captivating, so much deeper.

He gave her a slight smile, but Ichigo noticed the sadness it held. Becoming curious, she couldn't help but ask, "Shirogane? What's wrong?"

"I came out here…and remembered…about them. How we used to…come out on a clear evening…and watch the sunset…" he spoke slowly and hesitantly, his voice quiet and gentle.

Ichigo knew immediately that 'them' were his parents. A feeling of pity washed over her, however she shunned it, knowing Shirogane didn't like people being sorry for him.

But she couldn't ignore it completely, and it came out in her voice.

"It'll be alright," she reassured him.

"Strawberry, what have I told you about feeling sorry for me?" he asked, his tone suddenly acquiring a defensive edge to it.

"Sumimasen," she apologised. Sighing, she looked up at the sky. Red, orange, yellow, purple and pink blended together creating an atmosphere of serenity. A cooling breeze blew by. After such a storm, then the thick fog, the weather had recovered from it's bad spell. Now outside was beautiful. _But how long will it last? Maybe just a couple hours._

In the distance the gleaming yellow orb of the sun was lowering itself further and further down. It was almost gone, but the colours it left in it's place were magical - or so it seemed.

The trees rustled slightly and the blades of grass swayed. Birds on branches sang their final lullaby's for the night.

"It's magnificent," she breathed.

"Didn't know you knew such a complicated word, Strawberry," Ryou teased.

"Of course I do," she retorted proudly. "And anyway, it's not that complicated."

"Is for a baka like you," he muttered under his breath, but she heard him.

"HEY!"

He smirked. She glared.

"What are you doing out here?"

Regaining her composture, she replied, "Came to see you."

"That's the second time today you've done that. Nice outfit by the way," he complimented.

"Arigato," Ichigo grinned, glad he had noticed. Suddenly, she remembered why she was there in the first place…however, he didn't seem in the mood for her flirting. Plus, it would be kind of cruel since he was thinking of his mother and father.

"I miss them," he sighed.

"Of course you do. They were the most important people in your life. You haven't seen them or heard their voices in six years," Ichigo said sweetly.

"You don't know how it feels." He lay down, looking up at the picture she had been not long before.

"How do you know that I haven't suffered loss of a relative?"

This really grabbed his attention. "Have you?"

"When I was little, my grandmother and I were close. Very close. She passed away when I was nine. I was devastated. My mother said I'd never cried so much, ever. It was hard at first but I let go of her and I've managed to get over it. I'm not sad anymore. Shirogane, I think you're problem is that you won't let go of the fact your parents are dead. Once you do that, it won't hurt you anymore. You'll be happy."

He sat back up and as Ichigo smiled proudly, he did something totally unexpected. He hugged her.

"Thank you," he whispered into her hair.

Ichigo blushed and a dazed smile captured her lips. Then, POOF! She was a cat.

"You should really be more careful about what excites you, baka Strawberry." Smirking as she glared at him, he lifted her up and kissed her lightly on the lips, causing her to change back to her human form.

Sighing, he turned away, bringing his knees to his chest. Ichigo sat silently as he got caught up in his thoughts.

Eventually ten minutes later, as the sun disappeared taking all of the mystical colours with it and leaving the sky a darkening blue, he broke the silence, "We should head back inside."

However, he never got a reply or even a murmur of recognition. Ryou felt a weight on his shoulder. That was when he discovered Ichigo had fallen asleep.

Carefully moving her off of him, he stood. Dusting himself off, he crouched back down and gently lifted the sleeping catgirl, carrying her into the café.

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Ichigo had been right. The beautiful sunset had been like a moment in an hour, once it had left the rain had started again.

_Cue the thunder and lightning_, Ichigo thought disappointedly as she gazed out the living room window, her head resting in her hands.

The door opened behind her and in stepped her friends.

"I can't believe you blew off the prank!"

"Why didn't you get Shirogane-nii-san back? Were you too scared, na no da?"

"If you didn't want to do this, then why'd you agree to it?"

"Anou…you could have…maybe tried harder, Ichigo-chan."

Sighing, the red-head rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Look, Shirogane didn't need the hassle of the stupid prank at that time."

"Why?" asked all of the Mew Mews at once.

"Because he had something on his mind…something personal…trust me, he really didn't need me flirting," Ichigo told them.

Raising an eyebrow, Minto smirked, "It's as if you _really like him_. Keeping all his secrets and everything."

"Shut up!"

"You'll just have to make up for it tonight," Zakuro stated.

"Tonight?" Ichigo questioned, puzzled.

"The third outfit. It's happening tonight," Minto smiled confidently. "So you better not mess it up!"

"I wouldn't!"

"Minto-onee-chan is right na no da! The only messing will be with Shirogane-nii-san's mind. NA NO DA!!"

"Is she scaring anyone else?" Retasu whispered as Purin began to do an evil laugh.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Hai," Minto, Ichigo and Zakuro all answered at once.

"I think she's just getting carried away," Zakuro said.

"Speaking of 'carried'…why did Shirogane-san carry you in last night and put you to bed?" Minto asked slyly.

"Anou…eyah! He did what?!" the Irimote shrieked.

"Minto-chan, you know Ichigo-chan was asleep when that happened," Retasu said.

"I know, I just wanted to see her reaction."

Ichigo was running around the room, screaming and shrieking so much that Zakuro swore she could feel the large pink building shaking.

"UMA-KU! Mo takusan desu!" Zakuro yelled. At once, everyone in the room stopped to stare at her.

**(A/N: The translation for what Zakuro said will be in the A/N at the end of the chapter.)**

"Ichigo-chan, we need to begin to get you ready for tonight," she continued in a calmer voice.

"But it's only 2pm," the catgirl complained.

"You need a shower, the dress can take longer than normal ones to put on, your hair and make-up needs to be done and we need to go though what you're going to do. We have a lot to do in four hours," the supermodel explained.

Groaning, Ichigo did as she was told.

As soon as she had left the room, Retasu asked, "Do you really think this is going to work?"

"It had better," Zakuro moaned. "Because we've put to much into it for it to go wrong."

"It'll work out fine, na no da!" Purin giggled.

"Hopefully, if it goes off without any interference, we should have a new couple very soon…" Minto grinned.

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Finishing her shower, Ichigo stepped out of the cubicle and wrapped a towel round her now squeaky-clean body.

She walked back to the living room to get dressed in her outfit. The dreaded third outfit…just the thought of Ryou seeing her in it…POOF! POOF!

_At least it's only the ears and tail,_ she thought, mentally smacking herself as she had allowed herself to become too excited again.

Reaching the door, she pushed it open and strode in. The first thing her eyes caught was the dress.

It hung on a hanger on the railing that ran around the top of the wall. The ebony material contrasted perfectly with the scarlet ribbon.

The dress was strapless, the top of it much like her Mew outfit, except instead of fur, red ribbon bordered it. Another sash of the ribbon attached around the waist and another couple of lengths ran down the sides of the dress. The ebony satin fell to mid-thigh and just above the hem on the right side was a lone, tiny scarlet butterfly sewn on by blood red thread, leaving the silk creature with a dark outline.

_To think,_ thought Ichigo, _that I'm going to wear __**that **__in just a couple hours…_

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**A/N:** What you've all been anticipating will happen next chapter…I hope I'm not putting it off so much that it's getting boring. But again, there are a couple twists in this chapter - Masaya's on his way back, for instance!! Though, in my opinion, this chapter was a little dull. Hope you all liked the third outfit!! I got loads of votes, but most said red and black (a lot even said red or black).

Translation for Zakuro: UMA-KU! Mo takusan desu! _means_ ALRIGHT! That's enough!

Sorry it took so long for me to update, but I have been really busy. I'm going to put up the next chapter ASAP though! But for now, I better go!! SAYONARA!!


	13. The Third Outfit

Hey!! Prank Wars continues with it's 13th installment!! It's great that everybody is really enjoying it - it is my first fanfic after all. I can't believe I've even gotten this far as I thought it would be really short.

Alright, I'll stop babbling now and get onto the song and disclaimer. Yes, it's going to be another short extract from a song - but I've still got no-one to do the disclaimer besides me.

_I have a box of precious things_

_Things that can always make me sing_

_Of the moon, the stars and wind_

_And you make everything_

_You are the one that makes me smile_

_And makes my life seem so worthwhile_

_You make me feel like a child_

_And give me my own style_

**Security Blanket **_**by**_

**Puffy AmiYumi**

The rest of the lyrics are on my profile as it is my favorite song!! I don't own TMM. Now, onto the story!!

Chapter 12

The Third Outfit

Time passed too quickly. _Tick tock. Tick tock._ Half an hour had just evaporated into nothing. She just sat staring at the clock hands as they circled the time-keeping-device. Ichigo was only vaguely aware of what was happening elsewhere than on the wall. Zakuro was applying her make-up, Minto was doing her hair, Retasu was tying all the ribbons in bows and Purin….she had run off a long time ago, muttering something about needing to make a tart….or did she say chase a Tart?

But to the dazed Irimote Wildcat, none of this mattered. She was daydreaming about what a certain someone would say when he saw her.

_I hope he likes me…but I wonder how he'll take it when he realises it's all one big joke…now that I think about it, it's a bit cruel, messing with him like this…But he deserves it! He has humiliated, teased and picked on me enough - and I want revenge! But maybe fake flirting isn't the way to do it. Then what is? I don't even want it to be fake anymore….does that mean I want to really flirt with him? I do like him….a little…OK SO I LIKE HIM A LOT BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I WANT TO FLIRT WITH HIM OR KISS HIM!!! Why'd I think about kissing him all of a sudden? Oh, I'm so utterly CONFUSED!!!!_

"Am I in love with Shirogane?"

Though her voice was barely audible, Minto still heard the question and decided to put her friend out of her misery.

"It depends how strongly you feel about him," she reasoned. "If you always go giddy when you're around him and blush and stutter when you speak to him - then that's pretty much a crush. But love…you feel like you understand him, you need to know what he's doing, how he's feeling, you want to be the one who comforts him, you want to be the one that he trusts with everything, you like him no matter what (unless he goes completely evil or is mean to you or your friends or threatens to do bad things or uses you…etc.). And most importantly, if you can be yourself around him and he brings out everything in you - the good, bad and all that's in between, that's love. Do you feel that way around Shirogane-san?"

Ichigo was silent for a long time, thinking deeply about what her friend had said. She was only revved out of her clouded mind-set when she heard the words, "All done." from behind her.

Reaching up, she felt her hair lightly.

Minto slapped her hands away, ordering, "Get off! No touching or the curls will drop out!"

"Ok, ok!" Ichigo cried in defense. "I just want to know what you'd done to it!"

"Then why didn't you just ask?" Minto sighed. "It's curled, but only slightly. So NO TOUCHING! Understand?"

Ichigo rolled her eyes, saying that she'd leave it be. Then even quieter, muttered something about Minto being way too strict and it was only hair. Fortunately for the catgirl, her friend hadn't heard the last comment.

Zakuro and Retasu had long since finished their jobs and were whispering amongst themselves in the corner of the room.

"Do you really think Ichigo-chan is going to fall for him?" Retasu asked.

"Well, she already has," Zakuro answered.

"Yes, but I mean fall in love with him. At the moment it's only a crush…and do you think he's going to get together with her?"

"Once he sees her in that dress he will," Zakuro stated.

"But love isn't only skin-deep, much less depend on what is worn."

The Wolf's eyebrows rose in slight shock. Never had she thought Retasu would say something as simple, yet somehow….so passionately believed in. Especially that confidently.

"Very good point. I have to say I'm impressed."

The green-haired girl smiled.

"However," Retasu's smile instantly disappeared as the older girl spoke. "I'd say that, judging by the way he acts around her, Shirogane-san fell for our ditsy little friend a long time ago."

Nodding in agreement, Retasu glanced at the clock. "It's five to six!!" she exclaimed.

Everyone in the room looked at the wall, then at the red-head in the middle of the room.

"It's time," Zakuro said as she stood. Walking over to the door, she added, "I'll find him."

Ichigo sat where she was, nervously waiting. She was having second thoughts about all of this. She didn't think she was ready, but when Zakuro came back through the doorway, announcing that the blonde was in his room, she swallowed the lump in her throat and pressed down the butterflies that spun around in her stomach, standing and making her way out of the living room.

Turning back for one last glance of encouragement from her friends, she smiled at them. To her joy, they returned it.

Stepping outside she made her way along the corridor. Eventually, she reached her destination: Shirogane's room.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she raised her hand. And brought it down to knock on the door. _Too late to turn back now._

"Come in."

For a brief second, Ichigo squeezed her eyes shut. But then she realised something. _I want to do this._

She opened the door and went inside….

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His eyes opened wide and his mouth became agape. All he was able to do was stare at the girl in front of him in awe. He was speechless, and for him that was next to impossible. He had never even dreamt of something like this ever happening (well, he hadn't really dreamt of much besides his work for a long time). So this was…..this was unbelievable!

"St-strawberry?" he stuttered.

"Hmm?"

"W-wow."

"Arigato," Ichigo blushed. Coming from Ryou, it was a compliment - sort of.

His eyes never left her. Although he knew he must look like an idiot just sitting there and staring, somehow, though he kept telling himself to look somewhere else, he couldn't bring himself to avert his eyes.

She was beautiful.

Walking over to him, Ichigo took a seat next to him on his bed.

"So what're you doing?" she asked casually, trying to ease the knots tied up inside of her.

"Anou…I…" There was a long pause as the red-head waited for the boy to continue. After several moments, she realised that he wasn't going to speak.

Ichigo was shocked. It was Ryou Shirogane for goodness sake!! He never got tongue-tied or was at a loss for words - it just wasn't how he was! So what was wrong now? Was the dress really that good on her that he had been reduced to what she would become in front of one of her crushes (ok, so up until now she had only acted that way towards her ex, but still…)? But how could he: a normally cool, mature, arrogant jerk turn into a bumbling mess of stutters and idiocy? Hello, just not right!!

_Does he really like the dress that much? Or maybe…he likes me in it?_

Quickly, Ichigo spun her gaze to the floor as the attention she was receiving was making her blush. He couldn't take his eyes off of her! She could feel them still staring, drinking in her appearance as if it'd be the last time he would ever see her like this.

_Well, maybe if you play your cards right, you'll see me in this more than once…_

"You know, you can stop staring at me now," Ichigo said quietly, the blush still painted on her cheeks and a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Oh…ok." It was only then that Ryou was able to turn away from the girl beside him. "Sumimasen."

Ichigo smiled sweetly at the smitten boy, her eyes focused on his golden hair. Sighing softly, she turned away. For a long time, silence reigned, taking over the room. Neither spoke a single word for a while, though each had their goldfish-moments - opening and closing their mouths, trying to think of something to say but failing miserably. The only noises that could be heard were Tart's screams of protest and Purin's demands to 'get back here right now!', plus their footsteps as they thundered around the café.

Ryou let out a deep breath, glancing up at Ichigo who just seemed to sit there calmly, swinging her legs off the end of the bed.

"Look…why are you wearing that dress?" he eventually asked.

Turning to stare at him, she raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong? Would you prefer it if I went and changed?"

"No! No…I mean…well…you don't have to…" Ryou said, his voice quieting as he went on speaking.

Ichigo giggled. "You seem awfully nervous, Shirogane. Do I look pretty in this dress?" she asked innocently and sweetly, twirling her hair round her finger.

Ryou was taken aback by the question, Ichigo could see the surprise in his eyes.

"Well, I guess," he murmured.

The catgirl grinned triumphantly. At least he liked the way she looked, which he hadn't even tried to deny. Unlike normal where he would only reply as "Hmm." whenever she asked his opinion on her appearance.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" she enquired.

"Talk about? I wasn't aware you came here to talk," he raised his eyebrows as he spoke, his tone suspicious. "You're up to something, aren't you?"

"Me? No!" she replied, however, Ryou wouldn't let the matter drop.

"How about we talk about…why you want to dress up and spend time with me." He folded his arms across his chest as he waited for an answer. "This is the third time in the last couple of days that you've done this."

"Anou…I…feel like it. That's it! I feel like it!" Ichigo stated, feigning confidence.

"Oh, really? Why do you 'feel like it'? Isn't it a bit odd? I mean all of a sudden, just after the declaration of the end of a, so-called 'Prank War' you want to be around me in cutsey little outfits and flirt or talk?"

"Anou….." Ichigo began, but couldn't think of anything else to say afterwards.

Looking her straight in the eye, Ryou asked bluntly, "This is a prank, isn't it?"

She'd been caught…hadn't she? So, if she had been found out, why did she feel the strong urge to deny it, to tell him it was for real? It was the truth wasn't it? It was a prank? Then why did she feel like it wasn't?

She opened her mouth to say something - anything - but nothing came out. She was confused.

"I was right. It's all just a prank.'

Although it sounded bold, it sounded weak at the same time. Without her super-sensitive cat hearing, Ichigo would never have been able to pick up the soft sadness and disappointment that have been coated thick with no emotion to disguise it. Ryou was upset it was a prank. But _was_ it? Ichigo wasn't sure anymore.

"Ryou --"

"Shut up. Get out."

Ichigo's eyes shot open in fear. Ryou had never said that to anyone. Not so straight-to-the-point, at least. He was mad.

"But --"

"Look, I don't want to hear what excuses you have. Messing with peoples minds is wrong. It can hurt them."

Ichigo began to shake as her eyes brimmed with tears. He was mad. But he didn't shout. No. The tone of his voice made her feel much worse. He sounded sad and…hurt…

She had hurt him. This wasn't meant to happen.

"Get out," he repeated, beginning to grow more upset at the girl's lack of denial. It was surely a prank, otherwise she wold have said it wasn't, right?

He looked at Ichigo when she didn't immediately make a start to leave the room. What he saw…she was crying. Silently sobbing, her body shaking.

"I-I never m-meant it t-to hu-hurt you! I-it was supposed to be a p-prank, but…but it isn't anymore! I-I don't know why, I'm cofused, bu-but I think that…that it's real! It feels real…"

Then, without another word Ichigo stood and walked over to the door. But as she passed Ryou, his arm shot out, grabbing her waist. He spun her to face him, and before she knew it, he had pressed his lips firmly to hers. She lifted her hands up and placed them on the sides of his face as his arms wrapped around her waist.

They stayed there for a while, kissing. Though she knew she shouldn't, it felt so right and she couldn't bring herself to pull away. However, all good things have to come to an end sometime, and Ichigo found Ryou letting go.

For a moment they stood, simply staring at one another, neither wanting to say something that would ruin the moment. Eventually, Ichigo spoke up.

"You know, it was the girls who put me up to this. They suggested the prank."

"And it was Kish who forced me to believe you were seriously into me."

"But I thought you knew I had a crush on you?"

Ryou just grinned. "Wanna call a truce?"

"A truce? Between the two of us or everyone?" the red-head asked.

"Just the two of us. I don't know about you, but I've got plans for everyone else," he smirked.

Ichigo returned the sly grin. "Truce," she said, sticking her hand out for him to shake.

"Truce," he agreed, taking her hand.

"They're going to pay for making fools out of us!" Ichigo cried, punching the air enthusiastically.

"Calm down, catgirl. We don't want them finding out because of your shrieking."

"Shut up, you jerk!"

"Baka!"

After agreeing that they would start their revenge plan first thing in the morning, Ichigo left Ryou's room and wandered back in the direction of the living room. Walking in, she found herself being jumped on by four curious friends.

"So? What happened?"

"Did he fall for it?"

"Are you getting married, na no da?"

All the others turned to look at the small, yellow girl strangely.

"No," was the red-head's simple reply.

"So who's getting married, na no da?"

"Purin-chan, no-one's getting married," Zakuro said.

"Oh…then why did Tar-Tar-kun tell me someone was getting married?...Unless he meant we were getting married!"

"Purin-chan you're too young to get married," Retasu pointed out.

"And anyway, why are we talking about people getting married when we should be grilling Ichigo-chan about the prank?" Minto stated rather than asked.

Deciding to get it over and done with sooner rather than later, Ichigo piped up, "Everything went fine."

"So the two of you got together?" Minto questioned.

"Why would we get together?" Ichigo was puzzled.

"Because we only devised the prank so the two of you would become a couple, na no da!!"

"PURIN-CHAN!! TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!" Zakuro, Minto and Retasu yelled at once.

"You mean onee-chan didn't know?"

"NO!!"

"Oops…"

"I can't believe you would all stoop so low! I'm going to bed and never talking to any of you ever again!" Ichigo shrieked.

"You are so mijuku na (immature). You're the one who's unbelievable," Minto said.

Ichigo folded her arms and pouted. "I liked it better when you lost your voice," she sulked.

Minto raised her eyebrows, but picked up her pajamas and went to get changed. The other Mews followed her idea and it wasn't long until they were all tucked up inside their sleeping bags.

_Just wait until tomorrow_, Ichigo thought, _I'll get you all. Why on Earth you would ever want me to get together with Shirogane, I don't know. This crush may wear off soon. I mean, come on, it's __**SHIROGANE!!**__ It's going to be so much fun pranking __**you**__ now…_

And with that last thought, the Irimote fell asleep…until Purin woke everyone up as she had decided that sleeping was boring and it would be much more interesting to poke left over popcorn from earlier up Minto's nose…

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**A/N: **Hope you enjoyed that chapter! I know I haven't updated in ages and I'm really, really sorry!! I've just started back at school so everything is hectic at the moment! Plus my friends have all bombarded me with sleepovers in this last week, thinking it would be fun to have loads before the new term starts up again!! I'm soooo tired.

Anyway, new part to the prank war! It's Ichigo's and Ryou's turn to prank everyone! So if you have any ideas/pranks that you think would be funny to play on any of the other Mews of aliens (even Keiichiro) plz put them in your review!!!

SAYONARA!!


	14. Switching Sides

I am SOOOOOO SORRY for not updating sooner!!!!! I was really busy, then I had writers block and couldn't think of anything!! I am such a baka!! I'm still thinking about whether or not to end this fic so…I'm confused!! But in the meantime, I'll submit this chapter. Anyway, song time!

Time flies by

Yesterday tomorrows ending

Why, oh why

Are things just too demanding?

Face the lies

The facts exaggerated

Scream inside

'Cos I'm getting too frustrated

Tears fall free

From the stars that weep their sorrows

Just like me

They feel the need to cry

Oh please, oh please

Somebody stop me quickly

I feel weak

Like the rain that falls from a stormy sky

**- Tears Fall Free **_**by**_

**me!!!**

Yeah, I wrote the song. Plz tell me if you liked it!! I don't own TMM (but I wish I did)!

Chapter 13

Switching Sides

"But onee-chan, I said I was sorry!" Purin wailed.

"Tough," replied Minto. "I'm not forgiving you that easily for _shoving popcorn up my nose!"_

From where she sat at the table, Ichigo let out a giggle. The two of them had been like this since last night: Purin apologizing over and over again and Minto refusing the "sorry"s.

Now though, the five of them had ventured downstairs to get breakfast. On their way to the kitchen, they had discovered that the weather was back to normal - but had all agreed to persuade Ryou to let them stay anyway.

However, the blonde boy hadn't surfaced yet. Ichigo was beginning to get worried. Ryou was always up on time, especially when he had something planned. Ok, so maybe getting together with her to talk over revenge tactics wasn't exactly something that had to be done at a certain time, as if it were life-or-death. But it was still important. _So where was he?_

Ichigo sighed. She was starting to grow bored. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she rose from her stool and began to make her way out of the kitchen. However, just as she reached the door, she heard someone calling her.

"Ichigo-chan? Ichigo-chan, where are you going?"

Twisting round, Ichigo replied, "Just to wake Shirogane up. He's taking way too long to get out of bed."

She nodded, but Zakuro still looked skeptical. "Whatever. But I'm sure he'll be up soon anyway."

"Why wait?"

"Why wake him? If he's sleeping, you should let him be, Ichigo-chan. He needs his rest," Zakuro reasoned.

"Yeah, especially after all the hits he's taken from us," Minto added, smugly.

"Still…he's usually up long before now. I'll just check on him then," Ichigo said, determined to get to the boy. Her patience was wearing thin (and had been for a long time) and she refused to wait any longer.

Stamping up the stairs, she made her way to the blonde's room and opened the door without thinking. Shirogane was always up early, but that didn't mean he always left his room early, as was the case today.

There he was, sitting on his windowsill, shirtless. He was staring outside and had not yet noticed the lingering catgirl. She crouched behind the doorway, biting her lip and not daring to move a muscle, lest she was caught. She had done this many a time before, only ever actually being found out a few times.

Her eyes rested on him, slightly dreamily. Although she was subconscious to it, it was easy to tell that she was falling for him. Hard. However, even if she knew, it was doubtful that she would admit it, being the stubborn girl she was.

Ichigo's cat senses were sharper now than they were the first time she was caught 'spying'. She was able to hide from him easier when behind doors. But it didn't always work.

He picked up a book, leafing through the pages. The cover was turned to face her, however, in the red-head's eagerness to squint at the small print, she leant forward a little too far, letting the door fall open more which caused her to lose footing trying to close it over again. And, as per usual, her entrance into the room was loud and ungraceful.

Ryou's head snapped up instantly. Turning to face the direction where Ichigo was, he found himself making eye-contact with a small, pink-eyed kuroneko.

"Baka Strawberry, peeping again?"

She narrowed her gaze to a glare as he scooped her up, brushing her lips with his own. Ichigo transformed back to 'herself' and Ryou smirked at her.

"Quit making that face at me. I only came up here to see where you were, since you haven't been downstairs already. If you had then maybe I wouldn't be in this situation!" she growled.

"My, my, someone's an angry kitty," he teased.

"SHIROGANE!!" she yelled, but then lowered her voice. "I can't believe I have to pair up with you!" she hissed as he held out his hand. Taking it, though reluctantly, he hoisted her up back onto her feet.

"I never forced you, you know," Ryou pointed out, referring to her switching teams.

"Yeah, well…." Ichigo trailed off, not able to think up a good enough comeback.

Ryou smirked again. "Well, we'd better get planning," he suggested.

Ichigo sighed. "I suppose," she agreed.

Glancing up, to give him a smile she realised something --

"AS SOON AS YOU PUT A SHIRT ON!!!"

He laughed. And it made the blushing girl smile. That was something that he did that made her happy. Though others laughed and smiled, it never pleased her as much as when he would, because it was rare and that moment when he was happy - it was special. But of course, she would never tell him that.

Snatching a shirt from his bed, he shoved it over his head and made his way over to the door. As he passed her, Ryou grabbed Ichigo's wrist, dragging her out of the room with him, despite her whines of protest.

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Minto sipped her tea in the main part of the café. For some very strange, almost impossible reason…….it was silent. Zakuro sat across the other side of the café table from the bird, reading a fashion magazine whilst Retasu sat beside her, reading a novel. Purin and Tart had ran outside a long time ago, and every now and then the girls could hear them screaming (mostly Tart) and giggling (mostly Purin) convincing them that they hadn't disappeared completely.

Pai had entered the room and had begun to read also, though what he was reading was unknown.

The only few that no-one had a clue about were Ryou, Ichigo and Kish. The three of them had scampered off after breakfast; Ryou leaving first, followed by Ichigo a minute or so later, then by a curious Kish.

Minto didn't know what to think about it, but in a way she agreed with Kish's reasoning. Before he had left, the alien had suggested that maybe Ryou and Ichigo were planning something - or had run off to kiss in a closet. But it was clear to him that they were doing something together. And although the others had disregarded the idea completely, it did not seem to want to leave Minto's mind.

She sighed, and returned to her previous engagement: coming up with the next prank.

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Kish crept down the hallway and to the door at the end of it. Once there he pressed his ear up against it, holding his breath as he silently listened. And sure enough, no more than a minute later, he heard what he wanted to.

He took off at a sprint back to the others. Jumping down the stairs two at a time, he finally reached his destination. Bursting through the door, he cried, "I was right!"

Everyone's head snapped to face him. They shot curious glances at him, causing him to groan in frustration.

"Shirogane-san and koneko-chan? Ring any bells?" he said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh…you wanted to find out what they were up to, didn't you?" Zakuro questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, and it just so happens that I was right in my theory," he boasted.

"In what way?" asked Minto, leaning forward in her seat to show she was listening intently.

"They're plotting against us! They're planning to prank us!"

"What?!"

Pai's head had shot up. He had been previously ignoring his somewhat-annoying friend, but this piece of information was impossible to miss.

"You mean they're teaming up?" Retasu asked.

"Yes!" Kish exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air for emphasis.

Minto immediately sprung into 'scheming' mode. They needed to be ahead of the ditsy red-head and their blonde boss. They needed to be ready with payback!

But she was instantly snapped out of it when there came a tap on the café doors……

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"I don't care! It's better than your idea!"

"Strawberry, you really need to stop screaming," Ryou complained, positioning his hands over his ears to block out the red-head's constant shrieks.

Folding her arms across her chest, Ichigo pouted. She sat cross-legged on the end of Ryou's bed while he leant against the opposite wall.

The two were currently debating whose prank was better, but both were proving stubborn.

Finally, Ichigo threw her arms up in the air, wailing, "I'm never going to win with you, am I?"

"No. It's not likely," he replied smirking, which only served to aggravate the catgirl more.

Clenching her hand to a fist, Ichigo swung it gently at her boss. There was no way she would ever actually hit him with that distance between them, but of course, Ichigo is kinda slow at things like that. But her swing wasn't slow in the least. She had managed to put a little too much power into her punch and succeeded in loosing her balance, toppling off the end off the bed. She landed on the floor with a THUMP! Then, as if that wasn't enough, when she grabbed the bedcovers to aid her when she tried to stand, they were whisked off the bed and on top of her.

So she sat there, on the floor with a duvet over her head, grumbing.

"Hey, could be worse," Ryou said.

"What, not gonna laugh at me?"

"Nope."

Lifting the cover up slightly so she could see Ryou, Ichigo gave him a questioning look. He raised his eyebrows in a return gesture.

He knelt down beside her, since it was obvious that she wouldn't get up.

"We should do your prank, it is better," Ichigo mumbled.

"Aww, is my Strawberry giving in to me that easily?" the boy teased.

"'My' Strawberry?" she questioned at the possessiveness in his tone and words.

His cheeks began to acquire a reddish tint and he turned away from her, saying, "Sumimasen."

Now it was her turn to smirk. "Aww, is my Shirogane getting embarrassed?"

He turned back to her immediately. "Strawberry?"

"Shirogane?"

He leant in, kissing her softly. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she kissed him back. However, it was short-lived as a knock sounded upon the door.

"Shirogane-san…is Ichigo-chan there?" came Minto's voice from the other side.

"Hai. Why?" he replied.

"She knida…anou…has a visitor…" the Lorikeet trailed off. Both Ryou and Ichigo noted the nervousness in her tone.

The door was thrown open and in walked none other than…Masaya Aoyama.

"Go away," was Ichigo's immediate reaction to the sight of her ex-boyfriend.

"Why should I leave? I've come back for you," he said.

She glared at him as he stared at her. Walking over to the catgirl he attempted to pick her up. Ryou felt Ichigo tense up as she leant onto him for protection. It was clear that she didn't want anything to do with Masaya.

"Don't you touch her," Ryou snarled. "And she told you to get out, so I suggest you do so," he added, his tone cold and intimidating.

Shock was evident in the dark eyes of Masaya. He thought that Ichigo would come running into his arms as soon as he returned, but here she was, practically cuddling another guy. And not just any other guy… Maybe his cousin had been right, maybe she didn't want him back after all.

"But I came back for you," he repeated his previous statement.

"I don't want you anymore! If that's how you're going to treat me, then I'm not putting up with it! Go find someone else! I have!" she shouted, though the last part was somewhat unexpected and caused the girl's ears and tail to pop out as her face changed colour. Her eyes widened and she made a dash for the exit. The three others let her run off. Ryou and Masaya were both too shocked to say anything, Minto on the other hand, thought it would be best to let the strawberry koneko be for a while, then she would probably force Ryou to find her.

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Ichigo sighed. The sun beat down on her making her even hotter than she already was. Her blush still stained her cheeks, even though it had been an hour since the incident.

_I can't believe I said that in front of him. _She smiled despite her actions. _Maybe --_

Her thoughts were cut off as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Ryou hovering over her, slightly nervous portrayed by him chewing his lip.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she murmured.

"You sure?"

She nodded her head.

He sighed. He was getting nowhere with this. "Mind if I join you?" he questioned, gesturing to the grass beside her. She shook her head this time, patting the spot where she wanted him to sit.

He did so and looked at her. She was staring into space, lost in her own little world. It was a typical thing for the girl to do; daydream about stuff at any random moment, no-one on the outside ever quite able to guess what went on inside that ditsy, simple yet deep mind of hers.

"Hey, you're not worried about that guy are you?" he eventually asked, revving the Irimote from her thoughts.

"Hmm? Who?" she asked after only taking in half of what he had said.

"That guy, you're not worried about him?" he questioned again.

"Which guy? You mean Masaya?"

"No, the one you've supposedly 'moved on' to?"

"Oh…" _Did he seriously not get it was him? And he calls me a baka! _"Yeah, well…I don't really want to talk about it…"

"Ok…well, let's forget about it then. The girls have asked me if you can all stay for a while. The offers open if you want to. Besides, how else are we going to pull that prank on them?" He smirked slyly at this and it was returned by a mischievous grin.

"We had better get to work on that prank. After all, we do owe them one," Ichigo giggled. Standing, she punched the air before turning on her heel towards the café.

"And I hope you realise, Shirogane, that it's **my **prank that we're going to pull," she said, her tone reflecting innocence.

"I hope you realise, Momomiya, that it's **my **prank that we're going to use," he corrected.

"Is not!!"

"Is too."

"Is so not!! Why would I want to be involved in a prank **you **thought up?"

"Hey, you're the baka, you tell me."

"Ooh SHIROGANE!!"

"Hai?"

"Quit being a MEAN JERK!!"

"Tell you what, I will when you stop being a clutzy baka - oh, I guess that means never."

"Stop teasing me!"

Ichigo groaned. Reaching the café doors, she yanked one of them open and stepped inside, closely followed by Ryou.

However…as soon as they were in, the doors banged shut behind them and the lights flickered off. A moaning noise began to gurgle from somewhere in front of them…and to the right of them…and also to the left…even behind…

A white light started to appear, shaping and forming itself as Ryou watched. A screeching sound came from the direction of the kitchen, then the clanking of blades upon metal.

A chilling wind blew around Ryou and the glowing white light seemed to edge it's way forward, swirling round and round as it approached him. But the blonde wasn't scared, merely creeped out by all of this. Of course, it would have been easier had he not been alone…wait a minute - wasn't Ichigo supposed to be with him?!

"Ichigo?" he called, looking around him to see if he could catch sight of the red-headed girl.

"Y-y-y-yes?" came her whimpering whisper. She was behind him. He tried to turn his body to face that direction, when he discovered that for some reason it was being firmly held onto and he couldn't twist round.

"Ichigo?" he whispered.

"H-hai?"

Looking downwards, he found that it was the Irimote Wildcat herself that was clinging to him.

"You can let go now," he said softly.

"But it'll get me…" she responded quietly.

"What will?"

"The ghost!" she shrieked, wrapping her arms round the boy tighter and squeezing her eyes tightly shut, hoping that this would make her living fear go away…or should I say non-living fear.

Facing forward once more, Ryou found that indeed, the white misty mass was taking on a human form. But was it really a ghost? Or was it….

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**A/N: **Don't you just hate it when authors leave their chapters on a cliffy? Doesn't it just annoy the heck out of you when you realise you're going to have to wait for an update to find out what happens next? And doesn't it just make you so mad when the author actually teases you about it in the A/N?

Lol! Anyway, I know it's been a reeeeeeaaaaly long time since I've updated and as I said before - I am soooooo sorry!! It won't happen again, I promise (well, to this fanfic anyway)!!

Ok, so the A/N is longer than the actual chapter (slight exaggeration, but hey!) but there's one last thing I need to say - THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED!! I got 25 reviews for the last chapter alone! And special thanks to **Jhaede **who bugged me to update - if it hadn't been for her then I wouldn't be posting this now…it'd probably have been up next week (sweatdrop)! Anyway, PLZ REVIEW!!


	15. It Can Only Go Wrong When

I really want this chapter up so I'm starting this now (1st October)!! This is the last - yes **LAST** - chapter!! Yeah, it's about time this fic came to an end. But hey - I may do a sequel if you want me to!!

Anyway, I won't keep you in suspense much longer.

Ruby: Yeah, she better not.

KKKO: What are you doing back?!?!

Ruby: Doing the disclaimer for you.

KKKO: Why…?

Ruby: What, I can't do something nice for you?

KKKO: Oh, now I get it, you want a nice birthday pressie! How long exactly do you want that piece of string?

Ruby: Ha ha (rolls eyes). Shut up and get onto the story - but sing happy birthday to me first plz.

KKKO: Happy Birthday to you! Blah blah blah…ok song over.

Ruby: Fine, sing it to me later. Kitty Kat doesn't own TMM, blah blah blah.

KKKO: Quit copying me!! But thanks anyway. Alright, STORY TIME!!

Chapter 14

It Can Only Go Wrong When…

_Previously: Facing forward once more, Ryou found that indeed, the white misty mass was taking on human form. But was it really a ghost? Or was it…_

"MINTO AIZAWA! CUT IT OUT RIGHT NOW!"

Ichigo suddenly ceased shaking. Her features took on a puzzled expression.

"But Shiro --"

A set of footsteps pounded delicately upon the café floor. "So you caught us. I'm impressed Shirogane-san," came Minto's smug voice.

The lights lit up once more and in the middle of the room stood the Ultramarine Lorikeet. But she was not alone. No, alongside her was Kish, Zakuro, Pai, Retasu, Purin, Tart and Keiichiro.

Now Ichigo was really confused. "Ok, what exactly is going on here?"

"Well, _somebody_ went to see where the two of you had run off to earlier today and came back with the knowledge that you were planning to team up and prank us for no reason --"

Minto was cut off as Ichigo's shrieks took over.

"What do you mean 'for no reason'?! There is a huge reason that is known worldwide as: revenge! You tried to force me and Shirogane together as a couple - which is absolutely disgusting and wrong on soooo many levels - not to mention the fact you betrayed me by going behind my back!! Honestly, we were only doing that because you deserve it!"

"Hey! We didn't do anything like that, koneko-chan!" Kish cried, pointing to himself and the two other aliens.

"The more the merrier! Anyway, who was it that found us out?" Ichigo asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Kish-san," Zakuro replied bluntly.

"NOOOO! Don't give me away!!" Kish cried overdramatically, falling to his knees.

"Too late for that," Tart smirked.

"Oh well," Kish shrugged, making a quick recovery, and stood again.

"By the way, what happened to Aoyama?" Ichigo asked meekly, quickly changing the subject.

Silence…

Ichigo raised her eyebrow, waiting for her answer to be given. When it didn't come, she enquired again, "I said; what happened to Aoyama?"

They were uncomfortable, she could tell. None wanted to make eye contact with the Wildcat and simply stared at their suddenly fascinating feet or the captivating walls. Ichigo sighed, giving up on ever getting a reply when Pai spoke, "We got rid of him."

"How?"

Minto shook her head. "Don't change the subject like that Ichigo Momomiya! We need to get back to discussing the war we just won!"

"You mean the battle you won. The war isn't over yet - we have one more trick up our sleeves and even more motive to use it," Ichigo corrected, boasting about the prank that she and Ryou had previously planned.

"Yeah, whatever Strawberry. You just better not mess it up!"

"Ryou Shirogane you are such a jerk!"

"Well _you_ are an annoying baka, Ichigo Momomiya!"

"Maybe the two of you should stop --"

"Stay out of this Zakuro Fujiwara!!"

"You do not talk to onee-sama like that!"

"Leave it Minto Aizawa!"

"Ichigo-chan!!"

"Look…anou, Zakuro-sama's right, this should stop…"

"You quit it too Retasu Midorikawa!"

"Why are they all using each other's full name's?" Tart whispered to Pai and the elder alien shrugged in reply.

Suddenly there came a shout from the youngest Mew. "PURIN FON!!"

Everyone stopped to stare at her.

"Anou…Purin-san, why did you just shout your own name?" Keiichiro asked, placing a finger on his chin.

"Everyone else was shouting each others and I didn't want to be left out so!" she began to skip around everyone, chanting, "I did it myseeeeelf!!"

The aliens, Mews, Ryou and Keiichiro just sweatdropped as they watched the carefree Monkey infused kid.

"Right…back to the war," Minto commanded.

"You do not have the right to boss everyone around!" Ichigo yelled.

"Would the two of you quit arguing," Retasu pleaded.

"Whose side are you on?!" the girls snapped at her.

"Anou…Pai-san's…after all, we're both against the pranks now," Retasu replied.

"They're right, maybe we should stop," Keiichiro agreed.

"I'm all for ending this thing," Zakuro piped up.

"But onee-sama!" Minto wailed.

"Why can't we have a little more fun?"

Everyone turned, wide-eyed, to look at the speaker.

"Shirogane?" Ichigo questioned.

The blonde boy shrugged. "Hey, I don't see why we should stop if we're all enjoying ourselves."

They all discussed it for a little while longer, but in the end, the majority won. Outnumbered five to four (though maybe it would have been different if Purin had actually joined in rather than continued to skip around hyperly), Ryou, Ichigo, Minto and Kish had lost in their bid to keep the prank war going. Sighing, Ichigo collapsed to the ground in defeat, Minto shook her head and Kish pouted. Ryou just glared at Keiichiro.

"Fine," he eventually sighed.

Pai spoke up then, "Shirogane-san, is it alright if we stay at the café one more night?"

"Yeah, sure," Ryou replied.

The eldest alien nodded his head in thanks. All was quiet for a little while, before Ichigo burst out, "I'm BORED!!!"

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"Why do I always end up in your room?!"

As he sat on the bed, head in his hands Ryou tried to tune out the catgirl's wails.

"Hey Kitty, would you stop screeching for even just one minute?" he teasingly asked, giving Ichigo yet another nickname.

She glared at him, however, she obeyed, shutting up. He gave her a puzzled look, confused as to why she had decided to do what he said. _This is a first, _he thought. But Ryou quickly shook it off when he realised that she was staring at him.

"Ok baka, what are we gonna do?" he questioned.

She didn't say a word.

"Strawberry?" he called her name.

Still no answer.

"Ichigo Momomiya," he sighed, beginning to get frustrated by her lack of response.

Silence remained. What was even more annoying was the fact that she was acknowledging him, but she just wouldn't speak. Groaning in irritation, he finally grasped why she was acting this way.

"You know, when I said stop screeching, I didn't mean stop talking altogether."

The Irimote smirked at him and pointed at the clock. At least a minute had passed since she decided to go on her silent strike.

"Baka," he muttered.

Sighing, she asked, "What're we going to do? I'm still bored."

"Yeah ditto. And those other idiots thought that locking the two of us in here would solve our problem."

"Probably just wanted to relieve their own boredom," Ichgio said, massaging her temples as she leant backwards on is bed, letting her head hang off the edge.

"What do you mean?" he asked perplexed.

"And you call me a baka," she muttered under her breath, however, she was not quiet enough so he heard her and promptly shoved her off the end of the bed.

"SHIROGANE!!! WHY ON EARTH DID YOU DO THAT?!?!"

He raised his eyebrow and she groaned, knowing this time _he _wasn't going to reply.

"This is exactly why they wanted us in here. So we would argue," Ichigo explained.

Ryou nodded his head, understanding now.

It was silent for a while, neither knowing what to say to the other. But as soon as Ryou had thought of something, there came a knock on the door.

He shouted for the person to come in and the door opened, allowing Zakuro to slink in and close it suspiciously behind her. Both occupants of the room looked at her questioningly.

"I have a plan - a prank - and I think you're going to like it," the dark-haired model explained.

Ryou smirked. Finally something to take away the boredom…

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Half an hour later, Kish, Pai and Tart were all gathered around one of the café tables, talking about virtually anything they could think of. So far, the topics had been: cookies (Tart and Kish), maths and science (Pai), candy drops (Tart), Ichigo (Kish), Masaya (all of them). Now they had run out of ideas.

Yawning, Kish stood and left the room, heading towards the doors that lead outside the café. After he had gone, Tart got to his feet, deciding to wander the café. Pai sat where he was, bored. Well, until Retasu came and led him away…

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Yet another half hour passed, but this time, things were about to get interesting…

"Right, Shirogane. I need you to turn me into a koneko," Ichigo ordered.

With a simple nod, the blonde boy leant down, trying to excite the catgirl by teasing her with a kiss. Only, it was not until his lips were less than a centimeter away did anything happen.

POOF!! And Ichigo was a cat.

---

"Ok, Purin-chan, just do whatever you can think of, but get him to the 'X'," Minto explained to the youngest girl.

Purin grinned and punched the air enthusiastically, shouting, "Okies!!"

---

"Is everything set up, Akasaka-san?" Zakuro asked the brunette.

"Yes, everything's ready to go," he replied.

"Good. Then let's do this," Zakuro said.

Giving the signal, she sent the three Mews to do their jobs.

---

Kish sat on the grass, enjoying the sunshine. This was probably the first time he had been in it since he had arrived at the café days ago. Suddenly, there came a 'nya' from behind. Turning, he saw Ichigo as a little koneko.

"Aww, Koneko-chan!! You look so cute - come here!!" Kish called to her holding his arms out wide.

However, Ichigo didn't go to him, instead, she scampered off back inside the huge pink building. Curiousity getting the better of him, the alien decided to follow.

Entering, he found her standing in the same spot as Retasu and Purin with Tart and Pai making their way over…

_5 minutes ago - With Purin_

"Tar-Tar-kun!" Purin called skipping around the corner as she continued to search for the small alien.

She quickly came to a halt when she found him sitting against the wall, fast asleep. Tip-toeing over, Purin was careful not to make a sound so as not to wake him.

She reached him, trying her hardest to contain her giggles. Lifting one of his ears up and leaning down close enough, she yelled, "WAKE UP TAR-TAR-KUN, NA NO DA!!"

"AHHHH!!" Tart screamed bolting upright. When his wide eyes rested on the person responsible, he narrowed them to a glare. "That's not funny!" he wailed. "I was sleeping!"

"Yeah, but you gotta come see!" Purin grinned excitedly, beginning to jump up and down on the spot.

Pouting and crossing his arms over his chest, Tart stubbornly replied, "I don't wanna."

Purin was shocked. However, she gained a sly smile when a plan formulated in her head.

First, she proceeded to stick her tongue out at him. Next, when that managed to grab his attention, she stuck her fingers in her mouth and pulled on the sides of her lips, rolling her eyes up. He began to seethe in anger at her attempts. Then, finally, she put her hands on her head, making sure that her fingers were stretched up, and wiggled them, once more sticking her tongue out. This time, she got the results she wanted.

Tart leapt to his feet as Purin turned and fled. A couple of minutes later, the two entered the main part of the café…

All the aliens now approached the one spot where all three Mew Mews stood, nervously anticipating what was about to happen.

The three boys arrived at the same time, and as soon as they did so, the girls sprinted away. They were about to follow when something stopped them in there tracks. Kish had looked down because Ichigo was a small koneko, but he managed to notice the floor below his feet. What was that old saying…oh yeah, 'X' marks the spot…

Unfortunately, Tart didn't see this. Stepping forward, he tripped a thin - practically invisible - wire which sent the final prank into motion…

A large bucket of slime fell onto their heads, covering them in the gooey mixture. They didn't have time to be disgusted because as soon as this had happened, Ryou whipped a belt at yet another bucket, tipping a ton of nuts onto them. Suddenly, a shout erupted from above them. Looking up, the aliens found that they were just in time to see whipped cream fall from the ceiling and all over them. Wiping the dairy product from his eyes, Pai was able to catch a glimpse of Keiichiro dashing off and out of sight. But it wasn't long until the next part. From behind, Ichigo - who was now back to her human self, courtesy of Ryou - and Minto snuck up on them. The two girls sprung into action when they were close enough, tackling Kish, Pai and Tart with dough before proceeding to wrap them up in it. The poor aliens didn't even have time to object because, from what seemed like out of nowhere, Zakuro and Retasu appeared in front of them, dragging them back on a huge rubber band. Letting go, the Porpoise and Wolf sent the boys flying through the air, through the kitchen door and into the oven that Keiichiro had just popped open. He slammed it shut, locking them in there.

A minute or so later, the Mews along with Ryou had joined Keiichiro. The brunette lowered the door again, enabling the aliens' objections to be heard.

"How could you? That was mean!" Kish cried.

"MEANIES!" Tart wailed.

Pai was too shocked to speak, so he let his two friends carry on in his place.

"What if you baked us alive?!"

"WHAT IF WE DIED?! What would you do then?!"

"Koneko-chan, do you hate me?"

Unable to contain themselves any longer, everyone burst into fits of laughter.

Regaining herself somewhat, Ichigo began hauling them out of the oven. Not a moment later, Zakuro, Retasu and Keiichiro offered to help her. Once they were out, everyone except Ryou - who had disappeared - unraveled them from the slightly golden dough. The truth was, the oven had been on a little, however, it was not too hot and with all that pastry, Pai, Tart and Kish weren't burnt.

"I thought we agreed no more pranks," Pai eventually spoke.

"We couldn't help ourselves," the Irimote said innocently.

Kish chuckled, honestly finding the whole thing quite amusing.

"Well, at least there's someone who can take a joke," Minto said.

Smiling, the red-head made her way out of the kitchen, her friends following.

But as she stepped onto the 'X' spot, something just had to go wrong. A jet of water came straight for her…

"KYAHHHH!!"

Everything went silent…

A soaking wet, completely drenched, freezing cold strawberry wildcat stood in the middle of Café Mew Mew, her mouth wide open from her scream and her eyes squeezed shut to protect them from the liquid.

They fluttered open again, glancing round the room, searching for the person responsible. Locating him, she stomped over, about to shriek and throw a screeching fit, however, what met here was _not _what she had planned. His lips were warm and soft on hers, his kiss gentle and sweet.

When they finally parted, she looked into his cerulean eyes and…

"RYOU SHIROGANE YOU JERK!! YOU ARE SO GOING TO PAY!!"

With that, the blonde backed away before turning and sprinting. The catgirl gave chase, her eyes full of fire. She ran as fast as she could, trying her hardest to catch up to him. However, this was not very easily done seeing as her clothes were dripping.

"SHIROGANE! Come back here so I can kill you!"

"Aww, you wouldn't really hurt me, would you?" Ryou teased as he turned to face her. But when he saw her angry - no, _fuming _- expression, his smirk was wiped clean off.

As everyone watched, one thought went through all of their minds at the same time: _It can only go wrong when they're together. _

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**A/N: **Aww, that's it! It's finally over. A huge, very grateful thank you to **Kish's Kittie** who came up with the final prank. Also, I just have to say: **THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO'S READ AND REVIEWED THIS!!!!!!! **

I know it seems like forever since I updated, and I'm sorry. I had planned to get this up about a week after I posted the previous chapter (I did actually start this on 1st October)…but I couldn't think of a prank…then school clubs/competitions got in the way…then I got loads of homework - I get at least three or four pieces a day and most of it takes like, half an hour to an hour to do…so I have been working like crazy all day trying to get this written.

If you want me to do a sequel, please tell me. But in the meantime, I have TMM MSN and Competition Mew Mew to update!!

Well, all that's left to say is PLZ REVIEW and BYE - for now…


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